Racism, Cynicism, Economics, and David Duke

In this article, a model is proposed and tested that explains support for David Duke in three statewide Louisiana elections. The model, which is tested at the individual level, includes independent variables to reflect the impact of racism, cynicism toward government, economic factors, and a variety of demographic characteristics. Symbolic racial attitudes were by far the most influential factor in explaining Duke support in all three contests. This held true even when Duke faced conservative opponents and in the fact of controls for ideology and other confounding factors. The notion of the Duke vote as being a protest vote or an expression of antigovernment feelings was only borne out in the campaign against the incumbent. Modest economic effects were also observed.