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Race, Resources, and Political Participation in a Brazilian City

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Natália Salgado Bueno  and
Fabrício Mendes Fialho
Natália Salgado Bueno
Affiliation:
University of São Paulo, Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning
Fabrício Mendes Fialho
Affiliation:
Federal University of Minas Gerais
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Abstract

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Does race influence political behavior in Brazil? Using data from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, we explore whether an individual's propensity to take part in a political association is affected by race, independent of socioeconomic position and of the availability of resources derived from this position. We found that white individuals participate more in political associations than do black individuals; however, after taking into account the differences in all types of resources, we found no difference in participation by racial groups. Nevertheless, by interacting race, skills, and income, it turns out that different racial groups use the same resources differently. A white individual's propensity to participate politically is significantly more affected by income than a similar black individual's propensity. Therefore, we argue that race mediates the effect of resources on political participation, which means that either different groups may use different resources or different groups can differ in how intensively they use resources.

Resumo

Resumo

Este artigo analisa as relações entre raça e comportamento político em Belo Horizonte, Brasil. Discute-se se a propensão de um indivíduo a participar em associações políticas é afetada por sua raça, independente de sua posição sócio-econômica e dos recursos provenientes desta posição. Os resultados apontam que indivíduos pertencentes ao grupo racial branco apresentam maior chance de participarem de associações políticas do que indivíduos negros; mas, ao se controlar pelas diferenças de recursos possuídos, não há diferença de participação entre indivíduos de grupos raciais distintos. Entretanto, ao se observar as interações entre raça, habilidades e renda, constata-se que indivíduos de diferentes grupos raciais utilizam os mesmos recursos de forma distinta. A propensão a participar de um indivíduo branco é significativamente mais afetada por sua renda do que a propensão de um indivíduo negro de perfil semelhante. Assim, argumenta-se que raça atua como “variável interveniente”, mediando os efeitos da posse de recursos sobre a participação política, significando que diferentes grupos podem diferir no modo e na intensidade com que utilizam utilizar os mesmos recursos.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , 2009 , pp. 59 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

We are grateful to Neuma Aguiar, head of the Center for Quantitative Research in Social Sciences (Cepeqcs) at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, for allowing us to access the Belo Horizonte Area Survey data; to Jorge Neves and Juliana Candian, for their support with the data analysis; to Ana Carolina Ogando, for her help with revising the article; and to Stanley Bailey, Adrián Gurza Lavalle, Fábio Wanderley Reis, and James Vreeland for their careful read and thoughtful comments. We are also indebted to the three LARR anonymous reviewers, whose comments were of great help. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Twenty-seventh Annual ILASSA Annual Conference in Austin, Texas, in 2007. The order of authors' names is alphabetical and indicates equal authorship.

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