Attitudes of Southern Democratic Party Activists Toward Jesse Jackson: The Effects of the Local Context

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Abstract
This article examines the effect of the racial composition of the local context on the attitudes of southern Democratic Party activists toward the 1984 Jesse Jackson presidential candidacy. Relying on a survey of delegates to the 1984 North Carolina Democratic Party state convention, the analysis finds that white activists were more likely to have a negative attitude toward the Jackson candidacy when they were from a county that had a higher proportion of blacks. This relationship occurs because the racial composition of the local context affects both the conservatism of white activists, especially on racially related issues, and the assessment these activists have of the likely effects of the Jackson candidacy. Most important are beliefs that white activists have about the impact of the Jackson candidacy on the mobilization of black voters and on the generation of intra-party conflict.

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