Explaining political trust among African Americans: Examining demographic, media, and social capital and social networks effects

African Americans routinely have lower levels of political trust compared with whites. Explanations of their political trust remain rather unexamined. Using data taken from the 1996 National Black Election Study, this analysis examines three models to test how demographic characteristics, the media, and social capital and social networks influence political trust among African Americans. The results show modest support for the models. However, social location as measured by demographic characteristics is most important for explaining the political trust of African Americans. Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of Western Social Science Association.