Racial Minorities’ Trust in Government and Government Decisionmakers

Abstract

Objective Compare the impact of being a racial minority for influencing political trust as measured by the standard, NES‐developed measures with its impact on assessments of the capacity of decisionmakers to make racially unbiased spending and hiring decisions. Additionally, to examine the political trust of American Indians, an understudied racial minority. Methods Bivariate and multivariate analysis of 2004 and 2008 National Annenberg Election Study survey data. Results Self‐designation as a racial minority exercises small, inconsistent effects on the standard measures of political trust and external efficacy. When citizens are asked whether Caucasian government officials make decisions on spending and hiring to advantage whites to the disadvantage of blacks and Hispanics, racial minorities state that they expect racial bias. American Indians reveal levels of political trust similar to those held by other racial minorities. Conclusion An increasingly multiracial society will experience considerable tensions as minorities distrust government decisionmakers of a different race. These tensions will continue to be exploited by ambitious political elites.

Resilience, Anxiety, Stress, and Substance Use Patterns During COVID-19 Pandemic in the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) Cohort

“…Tailored educational materials can raise awareness, encourage protective behaviors, and relieve stress and anxiety by informing and empowering the community. The integration and collaboration of governmental and non-governmental entities are essential to building and strengthening community resilience [44] and build trust with minorities that often mistrust government and medical systems [48][49][50]. Moreover, the relationships between organizations and individuals can play a significant role in building social connectedness, further contributing to the resilience of a community [44].…”

The role of race and scientific trust on support for COVID-19 social distancing measures in the United States

“…Evidence from political science emphasizes the importance of diversity for political trust. For example, Koch (2019) [63] shows that racial minorities anticipate a racial basis by White political elites when it comes to policy-making. Shared experiences between people and elites -be they scientists or politicians-may help facilitate trust [64] and increase support for policies.…”

Political Trust and Native American Electoral Participation: An Analysis of Survey Data from Nevada and South Dakota

“…While pathbreaking, the number of useable survey responses was fairly low (118 out of 480 randomly selected tribal officials). Another study (Koch, 2018), using NAES data, found levels of political distrust among American Indians/Alaska Natives was higher than among whites, but lower than among other racial minorities. His study, however, utilized data from the NAES' small number of self-identified American Indian/Alaska Native respondents.…”

“…However, studies have found that political trust among some racial/ethnic minorities is low, although it is unclear how much of the disaffection goes beyond unhappiness with specific policies and officials. African Americans consistently evince greater levels of political distrust than whites (Aberbach and Walker, 1970;Avery, 2009;Shingles, 1981), but researchers have gotten mixed results from studies of Latinos (Abrajano and Michael Alvarez, 2010a;Abrajano and Michael Alvarez, 2010b;Koch, 2018).…”