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AbstractThis research utilizes a valuable data source to explain voter registration and political knowledge by Native Americans, testing theories of the political engagement of minority populations. After taking account of socio-economic resources, American Indians exhibit lower rates of voter registration and political knowledge compared to Caucasians but similar to that of Hispanics. Relative to other racial groups, military service greatly enhances American Indian political knowledge and voter registration. This finding is especially noteworthy given American Indians' high rate of military service.

ObjectiveCompare 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.MethodsBivariate and multivariate analysis of 2004 and 2008 National Annenberg Election Study survey data.ResultsSelf‐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.ConclusionAn 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.

This research examines the partisan inclinations of American Indians, a minority population with a complicated history with the U.S. government and American society. The empirical analyses identify Native Americans as preferring the Democratic Party over the Republican Party. The impact of being Native American on identification with the Democratic Party is sizable, equivalent to the effect for being Hispanic, Asian, or female. In addition, American Indians demonstrate a pronounced tendency to not affiliate with a major American political party. The higher incidence of non-identification among Native Americans likely results from the importance of their claims for sovereignty and, relatedly, living separate from much of American society. Unlike other broad-based social groups in American politics, Native Americans disseminate cues that reduce the tendency of their members to affiliate with a major political party.

One expectation for American election campaigns is that they inform citizens about candidates' policy inclinations, clarifying the policy directions advocated by the major party nominees. Evidence from the 1998 elections to the House of Representatives indicates that the more negative issue advertisements were broadcast, the more confident citizens became that they knew the targeted candidate's ideological position. However, the more negative issue advertisements about a candidate aired, the greater citizens' perceptual error of the candidate's ideological position. Issue attack ads lead citizens to believe they know more than they actually do, failing to produce the democratic ideal of an informed electorate.

Recent scholarship on American voting behavior contends that political cynicism prompts citizens to support a third party candidate. I maintain this research fails to consider an alternative direction of causality between political trust and third party support. Using an exogenous measure of political trust, one uncontaminated by candidate preference, analysis demonstrates that political cynicism is shaped by preference for an American third party rather than being causally prior to that preference. Students of American electoral behavior must consider the possibility that major third party candidacies shape supporters' political orientations and concerns in much the same manner as the major political parties do.

This research develops & tests hypotheses on the citizen & candidate characteristics that moderate utilization of candidate gender for forming impressions of House candidates' ideological orientations. High candidate visibility -- attained through incumbency or campaign expenditures -- enhances citizens' categorization of candidates on the basis of gender to infer ideological orientation. The effects of candidate gender are conditioned by political awareness for perception of Republican candidates' ideological positions because citizens receive conflicting cues about their orientations. In contrast, the relatively easy information process task for forming an impression of a Democratic female candidate allows for categorization on the basis of gender to occur among the most & least politically sophisticated. Finally, citizens draw on stereotypes of women to assign attributes to female candidates, not on stereotypes of men to infer attributes of male candidates. 2 Tables, 25 References. Adapted from the source document.

When candidates assume issue positions opposite those of their sponsoring political party do citizens recognize these positions? Also, what role do candidates' actual issue positions play in citizens' perceptions of their issue positions? Examining citizens' perceptions of 1996 & 1998 House candidates' position on abortion, this research finds that citizens' perceptions are shaped largely by partisan &, to a lesser extent, gender stereotypes. However, candidates' individuating positions on abortion influence perceptions of the candidates' position, but the effects are considerably stronger for perceptions of Republican candidates. Democratic candidates are likely to adopt antiabortion positions in districts characterized by lower than average levels of political awareness & education, reducing the likelihood their party contradicting position is accurately perceived. In contrast, Republican candidates adopt a pro-choice position in districts characterized by high education & political awareness, increasing the likelihood their position is accurately perceived. 3 Tables, 1 Appendix, 33 References. Adapted from the source document.