Residential Concentration, Political Socialization, and Voter Turnout

Although many have hypothesized that neighborhoods and social context are important influences on the decision to vote, the data to study these phenomenon have often been inadequate. We examine a unique source of data, registered voter lists, from a rich variety of locations that allow us to tap into this social participation dynamic using a multilevel research design. We find that neighborhood context does have a socializing influence on voters, sometimes mobilizing them while at other times demobilizing them. Notably, this effect is separate from the effect of individual-level sociodemographic influences on participation and is manifest over and above these long- standing explanations.

[1]  Surname analysis for estimating local concentration of Hispanics and Asians , 1994 .

[2]  D. Massey.  American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass , 1993 .

[3]  Matthew J. Burbank.  Explaining Contextual Effects on Vote Choice , 1997 .

[4]  L. Epstein,et al.  Political Change In Britain - Forces Shaping Electoral Choice , 1970 .

[5]  Jan E. Leighley,et al.  Race, Ethnicity, and Political Participation: Competing Models and Contrasting Explanations , 1999, The Journal of Politics.

[6]  R. Huckfeldt.  Politics in Context: Assimilation and Conflict in Urban Neighborhoods , 2008 .

[7]  B. Cain,et al.  The Acquisition of Partisanship by Latinos and Asian Americans , 1991 .

[8]  Michael W. Traugott,et al.  The Consequences of Validated and Self-Reported Voting Measures , 1981 .

[9]  Bruce C. Straits,et al.  THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF VOTER TURNOUT , 1990 .

[10]  Matthew E. Kahn,et al.  Civic Engagement and Community Heterogeneity: An Economist's Perspective , 2002, Perspectives on Politics.

[11]  J. Agnew,et al.  Place and Politics : The Geographical Mediation of State and Society , 1988 .

[12]  Frances Fox Piven,et al.  Why Americans Don't Vote , 1988 .

[13]  James G. Gimpel,et al.  Registrants, Voters, and Turnout Variability Across Neighborhoods , 2004 .

[14]  B. Silver,et al.  Measurement and Mismeasurement of the Validity of the Self-reported Vote* , 1986 .

[15]  M. Jennings.  Cultivating Democracy: Civic Environments and Political Socialization in America , 2004, Perspectives on Politics.

[16]  P. Abramson,et al.  The Presence of Others and Overreporting of Voting in American National Elections , 1986 .

[17]  M. Conway,et al.  The Contours and Sources of Ethnic Identity Choices Among Asian Americans , 2003 .

[18]  E. Hu-deHart,et al.  Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy, 1850-1990. , 1994 .

[19]  Robert D. Putnam,et al.  Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community , 2000, CSCW '00.

[20]  Anthony S. Bryk,et al.  A Multilevel Model of the Social Distribution of High School Achievement. , 1989 .

[21]  Pei-te Lien.  Democracy in Immigrant America: Changing Demographics and Political Participation , 2006 .

[22]  Ron Johnston,et al.  A Question of Place: Exploring the Practice of Human Geography , 1992 .

[23]  Anthony S. Bryk,et al.  A Hierarchical Model for Studying School Effects , 1986 .

[24]  P. Squire,et al.  PREDICTORS OF ELECTORAL TURNOUT: AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON* , 1990 .

[25]  John R. Logan,et al.  The changing neighborhood contexts of the immigrant metropolis , 2000 .

[26]  Diana C. Mutz.  Cross-cutting Social Networks: Testing Democratic Theory in Practice , 2002, American Political Science Review.

[27]  I. Luckey.  : American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass , 1995 .

[28]  T. Espenshade,et al.  Immigrant Incorporation and Political Participation in the United States 1 , 2001 .

[29]  Michael A. Krassa.  Context and the canvass: The mechanisms of interaction , 1988 .

[30]  Anthony S. Bryk,et al.  Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods , 1992 .

[31]  J. Oliver,et al.  Democracy in Suburbia , 2001 .

[32]  D. Rucinski.  The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. , 1994 .

[33]  John P. Pelissero,et al.  Asian-Americans, Political Organizations, and Participation in Chicago Electoral Precincts , 2000 .

[34]  E. Shils.  The Constitution Of Society , 1982 .

[35]  J. Xing.  [Review of] Bill Ong Hing. Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy , 1994 .

[36]  A. Giddens.  The Constitution of Society , 1985 .

[37]  P. Squire,et al.  Residential Mobility and Voter Turnout , 1987, American Political Science Review.

[38]  Robert F. Belli,et al.  Reducing vote overreporting in surveys : Social desirability, memory failure, and source monitoring , 1999 .

[39]  Bradford S. Jones,et al.  Reexamining Racial Attitudes: The Conditional Relationship Between Diversity and Socioeconomic Environment , 2005 .

[40]  D. Massey,et al.  Segregation and Neighborhood Quality: Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in the San Francisco Metropolitan Area , 1990 .

[41]  Robert S. Erikson,et al.  Why Do People Vote? Because They Are Registered , 1981 .

[42]  Richard J. Timpone.  Structure, Behavior, and Voter Turnout in the United States , 1998, American Political Science Review.

[43]  Diane S. Lauderdale,et al.  Asian American ethnic identification by surname , 2000 .

[44]  Peter Skerry.  Mexican Americans: The Ambivalent Minority , 1993 .

[45]  D. Shaw.  The Effect of TV Ads and Candidate Appearances on Statewide Presidential Votes, 1988–96 , 1999, American Political Science Review.

[46]  Peter W. Wielhouwer.  In Search of Lincoln's Perfect List , 2003 .

[47]  M. Weatherford.  Interpersonal Networks and Political Behavior , 1982 .

[48]  B. Highton.  Easy Registration and Voter Turnout , 1997, The Journal of Politics.

[49]  Harold R. Kerbo.  Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail , 1980 .

[50]  Wendy K. Tam.  Asians—A monolithic voting bloc? , 1995 .

[51]  Political Change In Britain - Forces Shaping Electoral Choice , 1971 .

[52]  Gary M. Segura,et al.  Citizens by Choice, Voters by Necessity: Patterns in Political Mobilization by Naturalized Latinos , 2001 .

[53]  Wendy K. Tam Cho,et al.  Naturalization, Socialization, Participation: Immigrants and (Non-)Voting , 1999, The Journal of Politics.

[54]  Diana C. Mutz.  The Consequences of Cross-Cutting Networks for Political Participation , 2002 .

[55]  Robert Huckfeldt,et al.  Political Participation and the Neighborhood Social Context , 1979 .

[56]  Dina G. Okamoto.  Toward a Theory of Panethnicity: Explaining Asian American Collective Action , 2003, American Sociological Review.