Settler Guilt and Support for the Indigenous Voice

• In Event: Native American and Indigenous Sovereingty

Abstract

How does settler guilt influence support for Indigenous policy? In October 2023, Australian voters were called to the voting booth and asked to vote on the Indigenous Voice—a constitutional referendum that would have created an Indigenous representative body to advise the Australian government on laws affecting Indigenous Australians. In this paper we use new and original survey data to examine how settler guilt affected vote choice for the Indigenous Voice referendum. Research in American policies has suggested that guilt can be activated to support policies of historically oppressed groups. However, we find that guilt can repress support for Indigenous policies that benefit Indigenous peoples.

Authors

• Raymond Foxworth, First Nations Development Institute

• Carew E. Boulding, University of Colorado, Boulder

• Edana Beauvais, Simon Fraser University