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Changing of the Guard:Generational Differences Among Black Elected Officials

This is a report on a national survey of black elected officials which was conducted as part of the Joint Center's Divergent Generations Project. The Divergent Generations Project seeks to document differences in political participation and public policy views associated with generational change in the black population. While previous research for this project has focused on the black population as a whole, this study examines whether the generational change evident among the black public can also be seen among the population of black elected officials.

Since 1996, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' National Opinion Polls have tracked differences in the political attitudes and public policy preferences between different generations of African Americans. Some of these differences have been quite substantial. They are reflected for example, in partisan identification, with older African Americans continuing to identify most closely with the Democratic party while a significant percentage of younger black adults about one-third are declaring themselves political independents.

Among other significant generational differences identified in these Joint Center surveys: younger adults, i.e., those born after the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, more strongly support school vouchers, are less positive toward the federal government and more in favor of devolution, are more supportive of the partial privatization of Social Security, are more pro-business, and hold more negative views toward voting than older African Americans, i.e., those born before 1950. While these and other issues show significant and growing differences, there are still many areas where blacks of all ages find considerable agreement, especially in contrast with the differences between black and white public opinion.

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Date Published: 2001

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Did You Know?

Did you know that the earliest age at which you can retire and receive partial Social Security benefits is 62 years? Did you know that the earliest age at which you can retire with full benefits is 65 years? Many African Americans do not know these facts—a October-November 2005 Joint Center survey found that a majority of African American respondents (61 percent) know that you can get benefits if you retire early. However, only 39 percent of African American respondents know that the early retirement age is 62 years, and only a third (32 percent) know that 65 years is the earliest age at which one can retire with full benefits.