<p>Even as the Americans with Disabilities Act sought to tear down the many barriers the disability community faces, many of these physical and psychological barriers persist today and people with physical disabilities remain significantly underrepresented in politics and policymaking. Despite this, Americans with physical disabilities are increasingly, and openly, running for public office finding electoral success. Emerging research suggests that these candidates are finding ways to overcome the negative stereotypes often associated with physical disability, but we know much less about the role physical disability may play in influencing voter decisions. Utilizing an original survey vignette experiment and an original conjoint experiment across two national samples, this project tests the link between physical disability and the probability of electoral support in a primary setting. I also explore additional factors which may affect candidate evaluations and voting decisions between candidate profiles, including political ideology and the origins of the physical disability (whether a candidate was born physically disabled or became disabled from military combat), and the interaction of disability, ideology, and veteran status. The results suggest that political candidates with physical disabilities tend to receive more political support than able-bodied candidates with political ideology and disability origins both influencing voter decisions, and hold implications for increasing the representation of persons with physical disabilities.</p>

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Disability Benefits? The Impact of Physical Disability in Electoral Decisions

  • Kyle Hull

摘要

Even as the Americans with Disabilities Act sought to tear down the many barriers the disability community faces, many of these physical and psychological barriers persist today and people with physical disabilities remain significantly underrepresented in politics and policymaking. Despite this, Americans with physical disabilities are increasingly, and openly, running for public office finding electoral success. Emerging research suggests that these candidates are finding ways to overcome the negative stereotypes often associated with physical disability, but we know much less about the role physical disability may play in influencing voter decisions. Utilizing an original survey vignette experiment and an original conjoint experiment across two national samples, this project tests the link between physical disability and the probability of electoral support in a primary setting. I also explore additional factors which may affect candidate evaluations and voting decisions between candidate profiles, including political ideology and the origins of the physical disability (whether a candidate was born physically disabled or became disabled from military combat), and the interaction of disability, ideology, and veteran status. The results suggest that political candidates with physical disabilities tend to receive more political support than able-bodied candidates with political ideology and disability origins both influencing voter decisions, and hold implications for increasing the representation of persons with physical disabilities.