There is no shortage to the literature and theory written about the 2016 election results. These range from musings on American populism and the economy, to Russian influence, to sexism and the failings of the Democratic Party. However, understanding
the 2016 election through the lens of white status anxiety helps to interpret a number of these complicated phenomena. Changing demographics and increasing influence of minorities and women in society produced an anxiety that most profoundly influenced the white working class voters who handed the election from the first African American President to Donald Trump. American voters, primarily in the white working class, subscribed to the logic of the “zero-sum game.” This logic spells out that when minorities—primarily black, immigrant and Hispanic groups—benefit from American institutions or advance in society, this is detrimental to the position of whites in the working class. Historical systems of discrimination have privileged whites with a status above that of minorities; anxiety stems from environments and policies that threaten it.
Case studies allowed for a greater understanding of context and the underlying tension among racial status occurring in all three counties. Trump’s racial-nationalist populism and rhetoric called these voters, who had likely never felt asked to vote before, to turnout for the election. Anxiety over race, status and gender drove these white
working-class voters to back a candidate who symbolically and functionally protected their status. Importantly, many factors—including the economy, populism and gender— did interact to influence the election results. However, most of the discussion around the 2016 election does not directly address race and white status anxiety, both as a driver of the shift from Obama to Trump or as a symptom of American culture and policy. This thesis directly addresses the 2016 election as a result of white status anxiety in America and dispels any notions that American society is post-racial. Unlike a great deal of scholarship on the topic, this thesis grapples with race not only as its own issue, but an integral aspect of most areas of policy.
Policy Implications
This finding—the centrality of race in both policy and politics—has several policy implications. The first is the permanent nature of policy, if not in law, then in culture. Policies created around race since the nation’s formation have seeped into our culture. If anything, this thesis should illustrate the reverberations of policies that target racial out-groups in all aspects of cultural systems and institutions. This should serve as a forewarning to all policy actors: the permanent nature of policy should be considered in every piece of legislation. In creating and enacting policy, an awareness of future
interpretation and consequences should be regarded with the highest consideration. While policymakers may understand this in theory, these considerations are often not
thoughtfully exercised.
Another important policy implication highlighted by my findings is the need to talk more candidly about race in America. After Barack Obama was elected, some Americans shifted their perception to believe that the United States had become a post- racial society. This perception created an interpretation of a growing anti-white bias. This notion bred hostilities, primarily among the white working class. However, this attitude largely has been ignored both intentionally and recklessly. As a nation, we have not talked candidly about the issue of race, which touches nearly every facet of society. It underlies discussions about the economy, welfare policy, education, housing, judicial systems and law and order. As the United States continues to become more and more diverse in its makeup, the nation cannot continue to ignore race and racism, or to isolate discussions of race from other major policy areas. As our policymakers debate policy choices in these areas, they should apply the lens of racial equity to understand and
evaluate the likely impact—both in the short- and long-term—of the decisions they are making.
Failure to make good policy often arises from a misinterpretation of what
symptoms need to be addressed. In order to make policy that will be the most impactful, we need to grapple with the symptoms arising from racial anxiety and tensions. This racial anxiety is an integral piece of society and, in 2016, it manifested in the election of Donald Trump.
Limitations
One limitation of this study is the inability to analyze each county that shifted from Obama to Trump. Due to resource and time constraints, I relied on the three case studies to extrapolate trends from in order to draw conclusions about the overall shift in the United States. In the case studies themselves, I was limited to data gathered by the U.S. Census, which was not always available for more current years. I was unable to obtain some kinds of information, such as welfare recipient data in some counties and more detailed breakdowns of demographics in the labor market. Additionally, there is only so much publically available data on voting. Since it is not possible to understand exactly who voted in each election, information on “different voters” can be inferred, but not proven.
Finally, personal bias can also be considered a limitation in this study. While this often happens subconsciously, bias can color perception of information and data. This could have impacted my interpretation of information and led me to focus on some patterns above others. Of course, I attempted to be as objective as possible in my research and analysis.
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