Identities and Interests
Race, Ethnicity, and Affinity Voting
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eBook
- ISBN
- 9780774838955
- Publish Date
- Sep 2019
Library Ordering Options
Description
Identities and Interests offers an entirely new perspective on the role of racial and ethnic identities in Canadian elections. Using a series of experiments, as well as candidate and census data, Randy Besco demonstrates that self-identification matters far more than self-interest, ideology, or policy. The largest minority groups – Chinese and South Asian Canadians – tend to support candidates of their own ethnicity. Yet inter-minority affinity voting also reveals the potential for “rainbow coalitions” and how minorities themselves think in terms of a white/non-white divide. Besco’s innovative work has major implications for social movements, issue opinions, fundraising, and political leadership races.
About the author
Contributor Notes
Randy Besco is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto. His research has been published in Party Politics and the Canadian Journal of Political Science.