How does the racial environment influence mass political participation? The power—threat hypothesis predicts that a larger out-group population in the surrounding environment increases citizen participation, whereas the relational goods hypothesis predicts that it decreases participation. I attempt to reconcile these conflicting arguments into a single hypothesis positing that citizens’ decisions to participate in politics are simultaneously shaped by the power—threat and relational goods effects. I conclude that the racial environment plays a significant role as a determinant of mass participation but in ways more complicated than what simple models of contextual effects suggest.
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