Author ORCID Identifier

Scott LaCombe: 0000-0003-0653-4006

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2024

Publication Title

State Politics & Policy Quarterly

Abstract

In the field of American state politics, the tension between majoritarian institutions and equality has largely been ignored. Do state institutions that empower majority preferences exacerbate disparities in social outcomes? Under what conditions do majoritarian institutions exacerbate inequalities in the American states? Our argument is that equality is most likely to be threatened under majoritarian institutions when (1) there are systemic participatory biases and/or (2) there are widespread prejudices about particular groups in society. We find that more majoritarian institutions are associated with larger disparities between White and Black life expectancy and poverty rates across the American states, but not differences in educational attainment. We also find that this effect is moderated by racial context, with majoritarian institutions being associated with greater disparities for states with diverse racial contexts and smaller disparities in more homogenous states. These findings suggest that majoritarian institutions operate to the benefit of the White majority, while coming at the cost of minority population outcomes when a racial threat is perceived, and presumably, public opinion is biased.

Keywords

Direct Democracy, Population, Health, Accountability, Institutions, Inequalities

First Page

1

Last Page

21

DOI

10.1017/spq.2024.21

Rights

© The Author(s), 2024.

Comments

Archived as published.

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