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Public Perceptions of Minority Inclusion and Feelings of Political Efficacy: A Replication, Validation, and Extension

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2025

CHRISTOPHER J. CLARK Open the ORCID record for CHRISTOPHER J. CLARK [Opens in a new window]  and
STEVEN ROGERS Open the ORCID record for STEVEN ROGERS [Opens in a new window]
CHRISTOPHER J. CLARK*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States
STEVEN ROGERS*
Affiliation:
Saint Louis University, United States
*
Corresponding author: Christopher J. Clark, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States, [email protected]
Steven Rogers, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Saint Louis University, United States, [email protected]
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Abstract

Stauffer (2021) shows that when Americans perceive their legislatures as having more gender diversity, they perceive these institutions to be more responsive. In this letter, we use an independently fielded survey to validate Stauffer’s findings and investigate whether her findings extend to race. We successfully replicate Stauffer’s analyses. We also newly demonstrate that perceptions of Black representation in legislatures are related to increased external efficacy, and perceptions of gender descriptive representation are associated with increased trust. Such findings underscore the importance of studying citizens’ perceptions of descriptive representation to understand their attitudes toward government.

Type
Brief Report
Information
American Political Science Review , First View , pp. 1 - 8
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Political Science Association

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