4 ms·
I think that the voting discrimination you describe (e.g. black people being more likely to vote for black candidates and women being more likely to vote for fe
by pius 19y ago
I think that the voting discrimination you describe (e.g. black people being more likely to vote for black candidates and women being more likely to vote for female candidates) is talked about so openly not because it's acceptable, but because the pundits are in the prognostication business. I think the factors that affect voting are studied more often than the factors that affect hiring.
- xirium 19y agoThe book Freakonomics mentions a discrimination study on the gameshow The Weakest Link. Apparently, open discrimination didn't occur to women or blacks but it did occur to Latinos and old people. So, it is entirely possible that some political candidates are benefitting from positive discrimination. For example, New Hampshire is almost exclusively white and they'd look really bigotted if the black dude came last. Freakonomics also mentions the value of voting - which is mostly social. The chance that you'll swing even a regional election is small. This is because your vote is worth less than the acceptable counting error. The majority of the value is social. Namely, that you're seen to be a good citizen and performing your civic duty. The real discrimination in politics is that you've got to be rich to get power. Political parties in the US spend over one billion dollars to secure a job that pays closer to one million dollars. Some of the difference is prestige but the majority is corruption.