Tatishe M. Nteta

Provost Professor of Political Science / Director of UMass Poll

  • Amherst MA UNITED STATES
  • Thompson Hall 408
  • Political Science
nteta@polsci.umass.edu

Tatishe Nteta's research lies at the intersection of the politics of race and ethnicity, public opinion, and political behavior.

Contact

Expertise

Political Polls
American Politics
Politics and Political Analysis
Race Culture and Ethnicity
Polling

Biography

Tatishe Nteta directs the UMass Amherst Poll, combining the latest Internet polling technology, conducted through YouGov, with leading political science expertise in both Massachusetts and national affairs. Nteta’s research interests lie at the intersection of the politics of race and ethnicity, public opinion and political behavior. His work examines the impact of changing demographics and shifts in the sociopolitical incorporation of racial minorities on the contours of American race relations, policy preferences and participation.

Social Media

Video

Education

University of California, Berkeley

Ph.D.

Political Science

University of Maryland

B.A.

African American Studies and Government and Politics

Select Media Coverage

Viola Fletcher waited 102 years for reparations. She’s still waiting.

The Washington Post  online

2023-10-04

Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science and director of the UMass Poll, is quoted in an article on the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre and the slow national movement toward reparations. The article cites a UMass poll conducted in January showing that a majority of Americans oppose cash payments for descendants of slaves. “It’s all about deservingness,” Nteta says. “It’s really informed by negative racial views and stereotypes of African Americans, and what they would do with the money.”

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Most California voters oppose cash reparations for slavery, poll finds

NPR  radio

2023-09-11

Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science and director of the UMass Poll, comments on new polling in California that found most voters there oppose paying cash reparations to descendants of enslaved Americans. “California is an important test case,” Nteta said, “If [the effort there to pay reparations] passes, it provides the momentum for the reparations movement that it has been looking for for 200-plus years. But if it doesn't pass, it provides momentum for those who oppose reparations to make the case that in a state as progressive as California, if you can’t pass reparations, the likelihood of passing this at the national level is very low, and in other states is also very low.”

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Poll: Trump voters say racism against white Americans is a bigger problem than racism against Black Americans

Yahoo! News  online

2023-08-02

Tatishe Nteta, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and director of the UMass Poll, who’s been surveying how Americans feel about reparations for two years, acknowledges the low popularity of reparations, but notes it’s bigger than public opinion. “Reparations policy is not necessarily about public opinion,” Nteta told Yahoo News. “It’s about the recognition by a private institution, individuals or governments. It’s about atoning for the mistreatment directed at a particular group.”

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Select Publications

Family Ties? The Limits of Fathering Daughters on Congressional Behavior

American Politics Research

Mia Costa1, Jill S. Greenlee, Tatishe Nteta, Jesse H. Rhodes, Elizabeth A. Sharrow

2019-02-04

Scholars have long suggested that familial life can affect political behavior and, more recently, have found that fathering daughters leads men to adopt more liberal positions on gender equality policies. However, few have focused on the impact of fathering a daughter on congressional behavior, particularly in an era of heightened partisan polarization.

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Politicians Should Know When to Retire

Newsweek

Tatishe Nteta, Jesse Rhodes, and Adam Eichen

2023-08-07

"There are strong signs that Americans are uneasy with the graying of our nation's leadership. In June, we asked a representative sample of over 1,000 Americans whether they support the passage of a constitutional amendment that would establish a maximum age to serve in the U.S. Senate. We found that over two-thirds of Americans (67 percent) expressed support for this constitutional amendment, with only 11 percent expressing opposition to such a change."

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Understanding White Polarization in the 2016 Vote for President: The Sobering Role of Racism and Sexism

Political Science Quarterly

Brian Schaffner, Matthew MacWiliam, Tatishe Nteta

2018-03-25

THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN FEATURED major-party candidates who both explicitly put issues of race and gender at the forefront of the discourse.

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