Reputation and Resources in Community Politics

This paper focuses on the role of reputational leaders in influencing the outcome of issues in eighteen New England communities. When such leaders are both active and united, they are on the winning side three-fourths of the time. This is not merely a function of their participation on the more active side, for they have as high a proportion of victories when they support the less active side. Furthermore, the side supporting change wins only 30 per cent of the time without the united support of reputational leaders but two-thirds of the time with it. There seems to be some reality to reputation, and this reality is consistent with a theoretical interpretation of reputation as a resource.