This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1078087408326900v1 44/5/645    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Lay, J. C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Race, Retrospective Voting, and Disasters: The Re-Election of C. Ray Nagin Ater Hurricane Katrina

Tulane University

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jlay{at}tulane.edu.

	Abstract

The 2006 New Orleans mayoral election provides a unique opportunity to examine the influence of a natural disaster on voting behavior. Theories of retrospective voting presume that voters will punish incumbents whose performance they deem unacceptable. To many Americans, Ray Nagin had done a poor job in handling Katrina. Theories of racial conflict and accommodation, however, contend that voters in urban elections base their choice primarily on racial group interests. This study shows that racial identity was a critical factor in vote choice. Although judgments of Nagin’s performance were important, many voters placed greater responsibility on the federal government for the response.

First published on November 18, 2008, doi:10.1177/1078087408326900

Urban Affairs Review 2009;44:645.

A more recent version of this article appeared on May 1, 2009


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?