Self, Group, and Public Interests Motivating Racial Politics

Racial politics may be expected to involve a commons dilemma in which voters perceive the choice of political candidates of different races as a zero-sum game. To test this expectation, regression models were construed based on survey data collected during the 1988 New York City mayoral primary between David Dinkins and Edward Koch. Both the perception of racial outgroup threat and dissatisfaction with public resources predicted candidate support in registered Democrats.