The Anger Gap: How Race Shapes Emotion in Politics

Anger is a powerful mobilizing force in American politics on both sides of the political aisle, but does it motivate all groups equally? This book offers a new conceptualization of anger as a political resource that mobilizes black and white Americans differentially to exacerbate political inequality. Drawing on survey data from the last forty years, experiments, and rhetoric analysis, Phoenix finds that - from Reagan to Trump - black Americans register significantly less anger than their white counterparts and that anger (in contrast to pride) has a weaker mobilizing effect on their political participation. The book examines both the causes of this and the consequences. Pointing to black Americans' tempered expectations of politics and the stigmas associated with black anger, it shows how race and lived experience moderate the emergence of emotions and their impact on behavior. The book makes multiple theoretical contributions and offers important practical insights for political strategy.

Author: Davin L. Phoenix
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 12/26/2019
Pages: 300
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.10h x 5.90w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781108485906

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2020

About the Author
Phoenix, Davin L.: - Davin L. Phoenix is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. His research examines how race interacts with different spheres of American politics to shape the attitudes, emotions, and behavior of both everyday people and elites. He is a recipient of the 2016-17 University of California Hellman Fellowship and the 2017-18 Dean's Honoree for Teaching Excellence Award.