“Electoral Capture of Minorities”

Matthew Reed

Political Science 10

Professor Benjamin Bishin

Discussion Section #27

There has always been a fight between what is considered fair for the rich and the poor. Under certain leadership, there can be favoritism towards one these groups of people. The Democratic Party tends to have more of an influence on the minorities and the poor class while the Republican Party is supported mainly by the white working class. Based on evidence provided by Bartels, the poor class does better under democratic rule. A strong correlation between the theory of Frymer and the evidence of Bartels can be seen. There is a strong racial issue that can be seen during elections for these political parties but it is not in certain political Parties interest to find support from certain groups due to electoral capture. The minorities and lower classes have a lower representation by the Political Parties during elections and need to have more benefits instead of it being focused mainly on the white working class. Though the lower class seems to do better under the Democratic Party, neither of the main Parties seems to represent them well. Voting behavior seems to be in favor of the Democratic Party, but the Republican Party still has a good chance at winning even though most of electorate has been worse under Republican leadership. Bartels suggests that this is due towards the American voters are myopic and are convinced that economically they will be better off. The voters seem to have more of a focus on economic issues than political issues. The voters will then follow bias policies where they can see immediate benefits but lack to comprehend the hidden costs. We can also see a substantial income growth for rich families in comparison to middle class and poor families. Also some groups will look at the campaign and base their vote off of how much money was invested in the campaign. Frymer argues that there is a consistent denial for Parties to have representation by those who are electorally captured, such as blacks. When Obama was running for president, it was noticed that he had a strong black following due to the fact that he was also black. This did not end the problems of electoral capture for African American representation. Frymer agrees that racial inequality exists and still marks a difference within the American society. He argues that Hurricane Katrina exposed some of these racial inequalities into public view due to there being low coverage on diverse aftermath and focused mainly on lower class black community. Frymer suggests that racial inequality is only increasing over time, having less improvements and economical difference between rich and poor African Americans.
“Finally, even when black leaders and voters have expressed interest in defecting to the opposition party or to a third party, the opposition’s party leaders have generally been reluctant to make even the most general of political appeals to blacks.” (Frymer 2010: 10) Frymer defines electoral capture for blacks as the Democratic Party taking the black vote for granted while the Republican Party does not seek the votes of this group. As a result, the black vote is mainly going for the Democratic candidate while the Republican candidate does not get this minority due to the low level of effort put into giving the African American community a reason for their vote. Since both of these political parties fail to represent the African American community well, the black vote goes to the better of the two which can hopefully better improve their interests.
Most swing voters are white which is what matters the most in elections. Though the African American community is electorally captured, the white vote is the majority. The black vote still has an influence but is not as big as the white vote. There is a decrease in racial progressiveness.
According to Frymer, there is a need for proportional representation in majority/minority districts. Parties should try to appeal to every salient identity and in doing so, reaffirm the identity of voters. There is a need for the 2 party system in the United States to serve a good representation for the minority groups to further support the community.
People care about having money. When electing a president, the voters see if the candidate can help them save or make more money, especially if not financially rich. The minorities tend to be found in the lower class which needs the most support. During Democratic Presidency there is higher income growth for the poor but in the long run it could be bad due to possible recession which generates unemployment.
As long as racial inequality exists within the political system there will always be a preference for the Republican Party to represent the white working man with little focus on the lower class. Since through history the Democratic Party has shown to be somewhat more beneficial to groups such as African Americans, the lesbian/gay community and other types of immigrants, there will be a strong focus on keeping these groups electorally captured until the Republican Party and the white voters begin to care more about racial policies. Though the main focus of people when voting is for economic growth, there is a need for more benefits within the minorities since the same benefits of the rich cannot be compared.

Works Cited
Bartels, Larry. 2008. Unequal Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press
Bishin, Benjamin G. 2009. Tyranny of the Minority. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Frymer, Paul. 2010. Uneasy Alliances. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Patterson, Thomas E. 2008. We the People: A Concise Introduction to American Politics. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.