Collaborative Research: Racial and Performance Models of African-American Mayoral Approval

Southern University, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

This investigate compares a Performance Model to a Racial Model in explaining approval of black mayors. The Performance Model emphasizes citizen evaluations of conditions in the city and the mayor's perceived effectiveness in dealing with urban problems. The investigators have a wealth of research confirming that evaluations of conditions in the nation influence presidential popularity and a fair amount drawing the same conclusion for states and governors. Is this model generalizable to the next level of executive offices in the U.S.? The Racial Model, on the other hand, stipulates that approval of a black mayor is based primarily on racial identification or racism. Most of the research on black mayors emphasizes this racial model and focuses on racial polarization in their elections The theoretical implication of this research is the applicability of the performance model of approval to black public officials. Several large majority minority cities have had black mayors for more than two decades, making a minority executive somewhat institutionalized in these settings. If these mayors are still evaluated in primarily racial terms, as opposed to performance, it is a pessimistic conclusion for urban race relations, regionalism and urban revival, as well as a factor which complicates governance for black mayors. On the other hand, if performance has become the yardstick for evaluating black mayors, it indicates that urban residents are becoming less sensitive to race in evaluating minority officials. Furthermore, there may be differences in the criteria that black and white citizens use to evaluate a black mayor; that is, the model of approval may differ from blacks to whites, and these differences can create further difficulties in governing. These models are tested using large scale sample surveys in six cities which are divided into multigenerational black mayor cities and first generation black mayor cities. Multi-generation black mayor cities are cities which have had at least two African Americans to serve as mayor. The cities included in this category are Atlanta, New Orleans, and Detroit. First generation black mayor cities are cities in which an African American is serving as the first black mayor of the city. The cities included in this category are Denver, Jackson, Mississippi, and San Francisco. The use of two categories of cities based on length of mayoral service provides scientific variation in the black mayoral leadership variable. These data will be of substantial value to other scholars interested in this topic.