Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior

"Provocative."—Charles Lane, Washington Post

"a great book . . . which really talks about the ways in which we would have expected Black voters to move — more away from the Democratic Party — based on changes in their ideological beliefs, based on changes in their views of different policy issues over the years. . . . I . . . read and reread [it] to really understand . . . the missing puzzle piece of this Republican racial realignment."—Patrick Ruffini on the Ezra Klein Show

"White and Laird take readers on a theoretically rich and empirically sophisticated journey to explore the social processes that constrain self-interest on the way to political unity. Through brilliant experiments and thirty years of data, they compellingly show that closing ranks is not a reflexive process but rather, racial political unity must be actively maintained through enforced norms. Reminiscent of Dawson’s Behind the Mule, White and Laird have given scholars of identity and politics a gift."—Vesla M. Weaver, Johns Hopkins University

"With compelling evidence, Steadfast Democrats attacks head-on the long-dominant understanding of Black politics. This terrific book is one of the most exciting, important, and original contributions to the literature of racial politics in decades."—Martin Gilens, University of California, Los Angeles

"Why, despite their growing conservativism, have Blacks maintained nearly unanimous support for Democratic candidates? White and Laird offer and test an innovative theory: Blacks’ high level of social interconnection enforces norms of Black political behavior. Elegantly argued and replete with compelling evidence, this outstanding book is a breakthrough in our understanding of partisan identity in contemporary U.S. politics."—Lauren Davenport, author of Politics Beyond Black and White

"With masterful and engaging writing, White and Laird force us to reconsider how we understand the inner workings of the Black community, Black institutions, and Black political behavior. Their intriguing results will serve as intellectual fodder for the media and the American public."—Daniel Gillion, author of The Loud Minority

"Steadfast Democrats powerfully proposes and documents an entirely new explanation for the cohesion of African American political behavior, called ‘racialized social constraint.’ Relying on prominent theories from social psychology and historical examples of the Black experience in the United States, White and Laird provide a rich justification for how and why racialized social constraint exists. It would not surprise me if this excellent book becomes a classic in the field of political behavior."—Patrick J. Egan, New York University