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Ethnocentrism as a Short‐Term Force in the 2008 American Presidential Election

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  • Cindy D. Kam
  • Donald R. Kinder

Abstract

Faced with a choice between John McCain and Barack Obama, voters in 2008 were swayed by the familiar play of factors—party identification, policy preferences, and economic conditions—but also, we find, by ethnocentrism, a deep‐seated psychological predisposition that partitions the world into ingroups and outgroups—into “us” and “them.” The effect of ethnocentrism was significant and substantial, and it appeared over and above the effects due to partisanship, economic conditions, policy stances, political engagement, and several varieties of conservatism. Two features of Obama were primarily responsible for triggering ethnocentrism in 2008: his race and his imagined Muslim faith. As such, we demonstrate that ethnocentrism was much more important in 2008 than in the four presidential elections immediately preceding 2008, and we show that it was much more important in the actual contest between Senator McCain and Senator Obama than in a hypothetical contest between Senator McCain and Senator Clinton.

Suggested Citation

  • Cindy D. Kam & Donald R. Kinder, 2012. "Ethnocentrism as a Short‐Term Force in the 2008 American Presidential Election," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(2), pages 326-340, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:56:y:2012:i:2:p:326-340
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00564.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Gary C. Jacobson, 2016. "Polarization, Gridlock, and Presidential Campaign Politics in 2016," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 667(1), pages 226-246, September.
    2. Boulu-Reshef, Béatrice & Schulhofer-Wohl, Jonah, 2022. "The impact of distance on parochial altruism: An experimental investigation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    3. Ben Lockwood & James Rockey, 2020. "Negative Voters? Electoral Competition with Loss-Aversion," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(632), pages 2619-2648.
    4. Pamphilious Faanu & Emmanuel Graham, 2017. "The Politics of Ethnocentrism: A Viability Test of Ghana’s Democracy?," Insight on Africa, , vol. 9(2), pages 141-158, July.
    5. Stephens-Davidowitz, Seth, 2014. "The cost of racial animus on a black candidate: Evidence using Google search data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 26-40.

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