Sex, Race and Political Participation

• DOI: 10.1177/106591298103400102
• Date: 01 March 1981
• Published date: 01 March 1981
• Author: Philip Secret,Susan Welch
• Subject Matter: Articles

SEX,

RACE

AND

POLITICAL

PARTICIPATION

SUSAN

WELCH,

University

of

Nebraska-Lincoln

and

PHILIP

SECRET,

University

of

Nebraska-Omaha

ILE

BOTH

sex

and

racial

differences

in

political

activity

have

~/~/

been

widely

explored,

few

studies

have

examined

their

joint

ef-

V

fects.

Yet,

we

have

no

assurance

that

sex

differences

or

similarities

in

participation

are

the

same

within

each

racial

group.

Just

as

the

patterns

of

sex

differences

in

political

activity

differ

across

nations,

so

might

they

vary

across

ethnic

and

racial

groups

within

a

nation.

While

the

theories

advanced

to

explain

racial

and

sex

differences

in

political

participation

are

surprisingly

similar,

the

two

strands

of

the

literature

are

isolated

from

one

another.

We

will

examine

simultaneously

both

race

and

sex

differences

in

participation

with

two

aims:

(1)

to

determine

the

joint

effects

of

race

and

sex

on

political

participation

as

measured

in

three

national

surveys

over

a

sixteen-year

period,

and

(2)

to

consider

these

findings

in

light

of

the

theories

used

to

explain

racial

and

sex

differences

in

participation.

PRIOR

RESEARCH

Several

explanations

have

been

advanced

to

account

for

differences

among

ethnic

groups

and

between

the

sexes

in

political

participation.

Some

seek

to

explain

lower

participation

by

the

&dquo;subordinate&dquo;

group,

others

ac-

count

for

equal

or

greater

participation

by

that

group.

The

isolation

explanation.

Early

comparisons

of

black

and

white

partici-

pation

revealed

that

blacks

participated

at

a

lower

level

than

did

whites.2

These

differences

have

been

attributed

to

the

greater

isolation

of

blacks

from

society:

blacks

and

other

minorities

lack

the

social

and

economic

re-

sources

necessary

for

participation,

and

may

be

actively

barred

from

partici-

pation

in

some

cases.3

It

is

hypothesized

that,

because

blacks

have

been

isolated

from

civic

affairs,

their

voting

turnout

and

other

forms

of

political

participation

are

lower

than

those

of

whites,

who

do

not

suffer

this

isolation.

Isolation

is

also

an

explanation

for

supposed

sex

differentials

in

political

participation.

Until

recently

many

analysts

claimed

that

females

participated

to

a

lesser

extent

than

did

males.4

A

frequent

explanation

for

this

was

that

the

traditional

roles

of

women

as

wives

and

mothers

left

them

little

time

or

NOTE: The

election

surveys

utilized

were

obtained

from

the

Inter

University

Consortium

for

Political

Research

at

the

University

of

Michigan.

Neither

the

Consortium

nor

the

original

collectors

of

the

data

(the

Survey

Research

Center

at

Michigan)

are

responsible

for

the

analyses

and

interpretations

presented

here.

’Sidney

Verba,

Norman

Nie

and

J.

O.

Kim,

Participation

and

Political

Equality

(London:

Cam-

bridge

University

Press,

1978).

2

Angus

Campbell,

Warren

Miller,

Philip

Converse

and

Donald

Stokes,

The

American

Voter

(New

York:

Wiley,

1964);

Julian

Woodward

and

E.

Roper,

"Political

Activity

of

American

Citi-

zens,"

American

Political

Science

Review

44

(December

1950):

872-75.

3

For

discussion

of

this

theory

see

J.

Allen

Williams,

Nicholas

Babchuk

and

David

R.

Johnson,

"Voluntary

Associations

and

Minority

Status:

A

Comparative

Analysis

of

Anglo,

Black

and

Mexican

Americans,"

American

Sociological

Review

38

(October

1973):

637-46;

Nicholas

Danigelis,

"A

Theory

of

Black

Political

Participation

in

the

U.S.,"

Social

Forces

56

(Sep-

tember

1977):

31-47;

Nicholas

Danigelis,

"Black

Political

Participation

in

the

United

States:

Some

Recent

Evidence,"

American

Sociological

Review

43

(October

1978):

756-71;

Anthony

Orum,

"A

Reappraisal

of

the

Social

and

Political

Participation

of

Negroes,"

American

Journal

of

Sociology

72

(July

1966):

32-46.

4

Campbell

et

al.,

The

American

Voter;

Robert

Lane,

Political

Life

(New

York:

Free

Press,

1959);

Hugh

Bone

and

Austin

Ranney,

Politics

and

Voters

(New

York:

McGraw

Hill,

1971).