Contemporary Racial Attitudes and Social Policy: News Coverage and the Affordable Care Act
Abstract
On March 23, 2010 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law
by President Barack Obama. This health care reform bill was intended to decrease the number of
uninsured Americans and increase the quality and affordability of individuals’ health insurance.
The Affordable Care Act, nicknamed “Obamacare,” is the most significant piece of redistributive
legislation enacted in decades, and arguably, the President’s most consequential achievement yet.
Despite its success in expanding health care access to the uninsured, the President’s bill has its
fair share of detractors, and continues to lack majority support in public opinion polls.
Opposition to the law is usually attributed to self-interest, partisanship and opinions about the
size of government. However, many commentators have suggested that some measure of the
hostility towards redistributive policies in the United States is motivated by racial antagonism.
In this research paper, I begin with a review of the general proposition that racial attitudes
shape support for social welfare policies. Then, I consider the specific hypothesis that racial
attitudes influence views about the Affordable Care Act. Then, based on a case study of the
Affordable Care Act, I investigate the extent to which the media contributes to the association
between race and redistributive policies. Research suggests that the media depictions are
especially important in reinforcing the association between redistributive policy and unworthy
beneficiary populations.
Description
The file is restricted for YU community access only.
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12202/4171https://yulib002.mc.yu.edu/login?url=https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4171
Collections
Item Preview
The file is restricted, or can be viewed by YU Community Only.
The following license files are associated with this item:
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Drugged Wildlife: The Potential Impacts of Environmental Endocrine Disruptors on Reproductive Development
Kramer-Rex, Melissa (Stern College for Women, 2015-12)The growing use of oral contraceptives and hormone therapeutics gives rise to the concern that estrogenic and progestogenic compounds are present in wastewater at concentrations that may affect aquatic species. This study ... -
Affordable Care Act Enrollment: Analysis of Variation in Nationwide Implementation and Implications for Health Equity
Zimilover, Madeline Tavin (Stern College for Women, 2015-04)Signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) promised to radically alter the healthcare landscape of America. Through ... -
When Push Came to Shove: The Historiography of the Student Protest Movement at Harvard
Neuman, Elianne (Stern College for Women, 2015-12)Primary sources are the basic building blocks of historical research. They are the unfiltered accounts of eyewitnesses to historical events. Yet these portrayals must not be taken completely at face value. A comprehensive ...