Race, Representation, and Trust: Changes in Attitudes After the Election of a Black Mayor

This article addresses the general proposition that changes in leadership images precipitate changes in public opinion. Specifically, the purpose of this research is to determine if changes in the levels of political trust expressed by black and white city residents can be attributed to the election of a city's first black mayor. The attitudes of black and white residents of the City of Atlanta before and after the election of a black mayor are compared, and changes occurring during the study period are compared to similar national data. Alternate explanations for the changes observed are explored. The data examined suggest that increased identification with city government among blacks is stimulated by the election of a black mayor. F. Glenn Abney is Associate Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University, and John D. Hutcheson, Jr. is Professor and Director of the Center for Urban Research and Service in the College of Urban Life at Georgia State University. The authors are indebted to Thomas D. Lauth, James E. Prather, and Robert E. Snow for helpful comments on drafts of this article, and to Tim Ryles, the director of the 1970 Atlanta survey, for making the 1970 survey data available. The 1976 survey was conducted by the Center for Urban Research and Service in the College of Urban Life at Georgia State University, and was facilitated by contracts with Fulton County, Georgia. Public Opinion Quarterly Vol. 45:91-101 ? 1981 by The Trustees of Columbia University Published by Elsevier North-Holland, Inc. 0033-362X/81/0045-91/$1 75 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.138 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 06:03:45 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 92 ABNEY AND HUTCHESON black proportion of the population is low, has relatively little influence, and has little hope of increasing its influence by legitimate means" (p. 249). Further, Schuman and Gruenberg argue that trust of city government is strongly associated with trust of the mayor and that blacks tend to be most distrustful in cities having mayors perceived as "more representative of whites than of blacks" (p. 241). In a more recent survey, Cole (1976:111) found that over 80 percent of black respondents in New Jersey cities felt that having blacks serve in elective office in city government was important to them, and that a majority of the white respondents agreed that it was important that blacks hold elective office (p. 114). On the other hand, Cole also reports that at least 40 percent of the white respondents felt that black elected officials would "mainly represent the interests of the black community ahead of the entire city's" (p. 114). These two studies imply that images projected by political leaders may have significant impacts upon public opinion and political behavior. Specifically, they strongly suggest that one way to increase trust in city government among blacks is to provide opportunities for representation and that the most dramatic changes in trust of city government would be expected where the city's highest elected official, the mayor, is black. Conversely, Cole's study suggests that the election of a black mayor may decrease whites' trust in city government, and other writers (Eisinger, 1976:152-56; Levine, 1974:16-18) have suggested that black mayors may find it difficult to maintain a posture that does not closely identify them with their black constituencies. This article analyzes some of the propositions suggested by the literature summarized above by examining changes in the attitudes of black and white residents of the City of Atlanta and exploring explanations for the changes observed.