Islam and the American Electorate: An Experimental Assessment of Political and Racial Identifiers on Support for Muslim Candidates

27 Pages Posted: 21 Aug 2011

See all articles by Kerem Ozan Kalkan

Kerem Ozan Kalkan

Middle East Technical University (METU)

Geoffrey C. Layman

University of Notre Dame

John C. Green

University of Akron

Abstract

In this paper, we extend the analysis of the electoral importance of candidates' socio-demographic backgrounds by analyzing experimental data on the impact of cues about the religious, racial, and partisan background of a hypothetical Muslim candidate.The level of ethnocentrism is the major force in shaping the likelihood of voting for Muslim candidates but not for African Americans. A Democrat and Muslim candidate would have a lot of difficulty finding electoral support even among strong Democrats, if those Democrats were highly ethnocentric. The story does not change for Muslim Republican candidate. Highly ethnocentric strong Republicans would be less likely to vote for him in comparison to welcoming strong Republicans. Even though party identification is arguably the most important factor in elections, the level of prejudice can mute its effect when the candidate is a Muslim.

Keywords: Muslims, voting behavior, experiments, ethnocentrism

Suggested Citation

Kalkan, Kerem Ozan and Layman, Geoffrey C. and Green, John C., Islam and the American Electorate: An Experimental Assessment of Political and Racial Identifiers on Support for Muslim Candidates. APSA 2011 Annual Meeting Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1912857 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1912857

Kerem Ozan Kalkan (Contact Author)

Middle East Technical University (METU) ( email )

Ankara, 06531
Turkey

Geoffrey C. Layman

University of Notre Dame ( email )

361 Mendoza College of Business
Notre Dame, IN 46556-5646
United States

John C. Green

University of Akron ( email )

259 S. Broadway
Akron, OH 44325
United States

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