Collaborative Research: Understanding the Long-Run Effects of School Desegregation on Political and Social Preferences

在后民权运动时代，“巴士案”是公立学校废除种族隔离的两种主要方式之一。虽然已经研究了接送孩子对教育结果的影响，但对接送孩子对政治意识形态和社会交往的长期影响知之甚少。这个研究项目将使用历史数据和大量的调查数据相结合来研究校车接送对那些实际经历过校车接送的人的政治、意识形态和种族态度的长期影响。这项研究使用了“路易斯维尔实验”的数据，在这个实验中，一个抽签系统被用来分配一些白人学生到少数民族学校上学两年，而另一些人则被校车上学一年，而另一些人则完全不被校车上学。研究人员利用这种变化，在不同的群体和学生群体之间进行校车分配，来研究校车对政治态度的影响。这项研究的结果将提供一个更广泛的理解的影响，公交和它的意外影响一般。本研究项目结合了档案数据、大量调查数据和差异中之差估计策略，利用20世纪70年代中期在肯塔基州路易斯维尔进行的自然实验，估计45年后政治偏好的因果影响。“路易斯维尔实验”（Louisville Experiment）根据学生姓氏的首字母，将他们按不同年龄分组。对于最初的白人群体，这导致一些学生被分配到两年的校车，而另一些学生只得到一年或没有校车。利用不同姓氏的学生群体之间的这种差异，该研究项目将评估公共交通对政治偏好和态度的长期因果影响。具体地说，pi使用差异中的差异方法来估计校车对党派关系、选民投票率和政治捐款的因果影响。该研究还将调查校车对种族态度和对收入支持计划的支持的影响。这项研究的结果将更好地理解整合计划的长期、广泛的影响。它可以为促进种族融合的政策提供信息，并可能促进社会和谐。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Busing was one of the two main ways through which public schools were desegregated in the post-Civil Rights era. While the effects of busing on educational outcomes have been studied, not much is known about the long term effects of busing on political ideology and social interactions. This research project will use historical data combined with a large survey data to study the long-run effects of busing on political, ideology, and racial attitudes of those who actually experienced busing. This study uses data from the “Louisville Experiment” in which a lottery system was used to assign some white students to be bused to minority schools for two years while others were bused for one year with others not being bused at al. The researchers use this variation is busing assignment across different cohorts and between groups of students to study the effects of busing on political attitudes. This research results will provide a broader understanding of the effects of busing and its unintended effects generally.This research project combines archival data, a large survey data, and a difference-in-difference estimation strategy to estimate the causal impact of being bused on political preferences forty-five years later using a natural experiment from the mid-1970s in Louisville, KY. The “Louisville Experiment” assigned students to be bused at different ages based on the first letter of their last name. For the initial cohorts of whites, this resulted in some students being assigned to two years of busing while others received only one year or no busing. Using this variation across cohorts and between groups of students with different last names, the research project will estimate the long-run causal impact of busing on political preferences and attitudes. Specifically, the PIs use difference-in-difference methods to estimate the causal effects of busing on partisanship, voter turn-out, and political donations. The research will also investigate the effects of busing on racial attitudes and support for income support programs. The results of this research will provide a better understanding of the long-term broader impacts of integration programs. It could inform policies to improve racial integration and probably improve social harmony.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.