Political Solidarity and Political Action Among People of Color
People of Color (PoC) differ by their time and mode of arrival in the U.S., their contact with institutions, and individual and group experiences with discrimination. This social category aims to capture the collective identity of different low-status groups, as a shared sense of being treated differently than Whites might lead to greater solidarity with other PoC and increase support for policies that benefit other minoritized groups. To what extent does inter-minority solidarity translate into political action? Can PoC build political coalitions that affect downstream political behaviors? What are the mechanisms underlying this collective behavior? Political scientist Efrén Pérez will collect panel survey data from AmeriSpeak on a large nationally representative sample of the three major PoC groups in Los Angeles – 1,200 African Americans, 1,000 Asian Americans, and 1,200 Latinos – and conduct three parallel survey experiments, and a lab-in-the-field study in August of 2025 (before the next mayoral election). The goal is to examine the extent to which inter-minority feelings of solidarity lead to collective political action. Adults in the AmeriSpeak baseline (pre-election) survey of May 2024 would be re-interviewed twice after the 2024 Presidential election (December 2024 and July 2025). The survey and the experiments will focus on national issues; the lab-in-the-field study on local issues such as school quality, police reform, regulation of street vendors.