Race-Related Differences in Self-Reported and Validated Turnout in 1986

Black Americans are less likely to participate in politics than white Americans are, but many students of political participation have argued that these differences result solely from racial differences in socioeconomic status. We have questioned these conclusions by analyzing the 1964, 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1984 vote validation studies in which local registration and voting records were used to measure electoral participation. When participation was measured by the vote validation studies, racial differences were reduced after controls were introduced, but whites were still more likely to vote than blacks. The 1986 Survey Research Center-Center for Political Studies (SRC-CPS) vote validation study is used to update our findings. The results are consistent with our previous analyses. The 1986 study does not confirm the finding of U.S. Census Bureau survey that young blacks were more likely to vote than young whites. However, our analyses do support the basic finding of the bureau that racial differences in electoral participation have declined.