Voter turnout and choice often focus solely on individual characteristics like socioeconomic status or education level. But this paper argues that social networks matter too, showing they can influence voting through proximity to political elites.
Our analysis uses newly discovered 1859 election records from Alexandria, Virginia combined with archival data mapping residents' actual connections to local leaders and elites during the same year. We then replicate these findings using modern survey data from a Newport, Kentucky municipal election.
Key Findings:
• Voting patterns shift based on social ties to political figures
• Individuals closer socially to specific party's elites show partisan voting bias
• Both historical and contemporary evidence supports this network effect
This 'this means that' approach reveals how elite networks shape electoral behavior in ways previously overlooked by traditional models.
| It's Not Just What You Have, but Who You Know: Networks, Social Proximity to Elites, and Voting in State and Local Elections was authored by Matthew Pietryka and Donald A. DeBats. It was published by Cambridge in APSR in 2017. |
