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It’s Not Just What You Have, but Who You Know: Networks, Social Proximity to Elites, and Voting in State and Local Elections

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  • PIETRYKA, MATTHEW T.
  • DEBATS, DONALD A.

Abstract

Individual-level studies of electoral turnout and vote choice have focused largely on personal attributes as explanatory variables. We argue that scholars should also consider the social network in which individuals are embedded, which may influence voting through variation in individuals’ social proximity to elites. Our analysis rests on newly discovered historical records revealing the individual votes of all electors in the 1859 statewide elections in Alexandria, Virginia and the 1874 municipal elections in Newport, Kentucky, paired with archival work identifying the social relations of the cities’ populations. We also replicate our core findings using survey data from a modern municipal election. We show that individuals more socially proximate to elites turn out at a higher rate and individuals more socially proximate to a given political party’s elites vote disproportionately for that party. These results suggest an overlooked social component of voting and provide a rare nineteenth-century test of modern voting theories.

Suggested Citation

  • Pietryka, Matthew T. & Debats, Donald A., 2017. "It’s Not Just What You Have, but Who You Know: Networks, Social Proximity to Elites, and Voting in State and Local Elections," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 111(2), pages 360-378, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:111:y:2017:i:02:p:360-378_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Esteves, Rui & Geisler Mesevage, Gabriel, 2019. "Social Networks in Economic History: Opportunities and Challenges," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Alt, James E. & Jensen, Amalie & Larreguy, Horacio & Lassen, David D. & Marshall, John, 2022. "Diffusing Political Concerns: How Unemployment Information passed between social Ties Influence Danish Voters," TSE Working Papers 22-1292, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    3. Shane Sanders & Joel Potter & Justin Ehrlich & Justin Perline & Christopher Boudreaux, 2021. "Informed voters and electoral outcomes: a natural experiment stemming from a fundamental information-technological shift," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 189(1), pages 257-277, October.
    4. Fiorini, Luciana C. & Jetter, Michael & Parmeter, Christopher F. & Parsons, Christopher, 2020. "The Effect of Community Size on Electoral Preferences: Evidence From Post-WWII Southern Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 13724, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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