Steadfast Democrats

This book explores why Black Americans maintain a high level of political unity with the Democratic Party, despite an increasing number identifying as ideologically conservative.

White and Laird argue that the roots of this unity were established through the adversities of slavery and segregation, which forged strong social bonds and enforced political norms.

They use survey data and original experiments to demonstrate how social expectations within the Black community influence political choices, prioritizing the group’s ongoing struggle for freedom and equality.

The book offers a new theory of 'racialized social constraint' to explain this phenomenon and its implications for the future of Black politics and electoral behavior in the U.S.