Senior Honors Thesis: Concrete Implications? How Confederate Monument Removal Shapes Political Attitudes in the United States

Abstract

There is minimal existing research within the United States today that informs us on the significance of symbolic politics, and just how impactful physical symbols can be in terms of the shaping of history, interpretation of events, representation of government, and framing of a country's ideals. This paper hones in on Confederate monument removal to explore the effect such has on subsequent changes in Republican vote share and political attitudes of United States Citizens. Using a two-way fixed effects model with electoral and monument data, as well as an ordinary least square model with unique data collection via an online survey experiment, I find that the removal of Confederate monuments, on average, significantly decreases subsequent Republican vote share at the Presidential level, and caused United States citizens to be significantly more likely to support and believe in the validity of the Black Lives Matter movement. The effects are even more extreme when considering gender and support for Donald. J. Trump. These findings add to a hyper-relevant and quickly growing field of research and literature pertaining to symbolic politics and its connection to political and racial attitudes within the United States today.

Awards & Recognition

• Albert Borgman / Phi Beta Kappa Thesis Prize for Best Honors Thesis in Social Science at NYU

• International Relations Department Award for Best Thesis

• Presented at the Undergraduate Research Conference at NYU (Fall 2021)

• Published in

  • The Inquiry: A Journal of Undergraduate Research (Fall 2021 Edition)

  • Journal of Politics and International Affairs (Spring 2022 Edition)

Link to complete thesis.