9357951 SWAIN This award provides support to Dr. Carol Swain under the National Science Foundation's Young Investigator Awards program. The objective of this program is to recognize outstanding young faculty in science and engineering, to enhance the academic career of recent PhD recipients by providing flexible support for research and educational activities, and to foster contact and cooperation between academia, industry, and institutions that support research and education. Dr. Swain has already made significant research contributions to the field of political science, and she has the potential to become a leader in academic research and education. This award will allow the investigator to build on her existing research and conduct an extensive study of legislative races where black candidates have run against white opponents in majority- white districts. She will examine personal traits, resources, campaign styles and strategies, and compare and contrast the results with existing knowledge. Data sources and methods include historical analysis, interviews, field research, statistical analysis, and experiments using computer assisted interviewing of a representative sample. Although it continues to be the case that the majority of blacks win public offices in heavily black districts, the past decade has seen a conspicuous trend in the elections of black public officials in predominately white constituencies. The electoral psychology that sometimes leads voters to ignore racial differences and other times to vote along racial lines remains unclear. This research promises to significantly advance knowledge in this area. The results should have implications for both theory and practice. ***
