•  
  •  
 
Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Abstract

African Americans have low levels of political trust when compared to white Americans. Explanations of African American’s political trust remain minimal. Utilizing data taken from the 1996 National Black Election Study and ordered probit to analyze the data, this study examines four explanations of African American political trust. It estimates political trust as a function of demographics, perceptions about the economy, beneficence from the government, and race orientation. Results show support for most of these factors, but no support for government beneficence. Social location, economic evaluations, and orientation to race influence African American political trust. I conclude that group-centric perceptions of African Americans’ conditions play an important role in explaining the race’s political trust.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.