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Elite Mobilization: A Theory Explaining Opposition to Gay Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Benjamin G. Bishin ,
Thomas J. Hayes Open the ORCID record for Thomas J. Hayes [Opens in a new window] ,
Matthew B. Incantalupo  and
Charles Anthony Smith
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Abstract

Media and scholastic accounts describe a strong backlash against attempts to advance gay rights. Academic research, however, increasingly raises questions about the sharply negative and enduring opinion change that characterizes backlash among the mass public. How can we reconcile the widespread backlash described by the media with the growing body of academic research that finds no evidence of the opinion change thought to be its hallmark trait? We argue that rather than widespread opinion change, what appears to be backlash against gay rights is more consistent with elite-led mobilization—a reaction by elites seeking to prevent gays and lesbians from achieving full incorporation in the polity. We present evidence from what is widely considered to be a classic case of anti-gay backlash, the 2010 Iowa Judicial Retention Election. Analysis of campaign contribution data in Iowa versus other states between 2010 and 2014, and voter roll-off data exploiting a unique feature of the 2010 retention election supports this argument. The results simultaneously explain how reports of backlash might occur despite increased support for gay rights, and an academic literature that finds no evidence of backlash.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 233 - 264
Copyright
© 2019 Law and Society Association.

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Footnotes

We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editors as well as Erin Mayo Adam, Daniel Biggers, Loren Collingwood,Pat Egan, Andrew Flores, Jeremiah Garretson, Christopher Hare, Allison Harris, Dayna Judge, Jenn Merolla, David Karol, Scott Peters, Steve Sanders, Sandy Todd Webster, and participants at the UC Riverside Political Behavior Workshop for feedback on earlier drafts.

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