Job Market Paper
Job Market Paper
The Limits of Organizational Mobilization in Local Politics
Abstract
Renters favor more housing and bear the costs of its scarcity, yet they rarely join pro-housing organizations or engage in the local politics of housing, while homeowners routinely mobilize against new construction to shape what American cities build. What moves renters from sharing an organization’s goals to engaging with its mission? In partnership with a large advocacy organization, I conduct a large-scale field experiment (N > 200,000) designed to achieve this engagement, measured through sign-ups for the organization’s mailing list. I test four motivational frames against a placebo: economic self interest, neighborhood solidarity, racial disparate impact, and the costs of abstention. The results indicate that the puzzle of non-engagement in local politics is not solved simply by activating the right motivation. Contact generates interest, but it does not convert to engagement or action. Few individuals signed up for the organization’s mailing list, and no treatment message outperformed a generic appeal. Similarly, these results suggest that adjusting the message to prime different motivations is not sufficient for organizations to recruit new members. People may respond on a discrete occasion but resist the open-ended relationship that joining an organization’s mailing list sets in motion.
Benefit or Backlash? Examining the Consequences of Expanding Definitions of Prejudice
Abstract
Definitions of prejudice have expanded in recent political discourse, yet the downstream consequences remain unclear. This paper develops a theory of backlash to expanding defini- tions, arguing that when individuals encounter allegations they feel are exaggerated or false, they become more skeptical of subsequent allegations and less concerned about the relevant form of prejudice. We test this in the context of antisemitism in the U.S., using an original survey experiment (N = 5,110) exposing respondents to an allegation labeling a pro-Palestinian protest as antisemitic. Exposure reduces belief in the validity of a subsequent allegation and lowers assessments of antisemitism’s severity in society, supporting a backlash interpretation. These effects appear driven largely by a motivated reasoning process aimed at protecting moral self-image. While our empirical focus is antisemitism, the theory and results are broadly significant for scholars of racism and practitioners engaged in definitional debates over what constitutes prejudice.