Regina Bateson

So what is strategic discrimination and why is it a problem?

Well, according to Regina Bateson, political scientist at the University of Ottawa, Canada, in an article she wrote and published in the Cambridge University's Perspectives on Politics on September 16th, 2020, quote, strategic discrimination occurs when an individual hesitates to support a candidate out of concern that others will object to some aspect of the candidate's identity.

The problem is not animus toward the candidate.

In contrast to direct bias, strategic discrimination is motivated by the belief that a candidate's identity will cause other people not to donate, volunteer, or vote for him or her."