Ecologies of Unease: Geographic Context and National Economic Evaluations
Research Question
How do local economic conditions shape public perceptions of the national economy?
Main Finding
Local economic indicators–-especially foreclosures, unemployment, and gas prices–-significantly influence how political independents evaluate national economic performance. These effects are particularly strong among less partisan and less politically informed voters.
Research Design
Cross-sectional analysis of survey responses from the 2008 presidential election, matched with geographically specific economic indicators.
Data Employed
Public opinion data merged with county- and ZIP-level statistics on unemployment, foreclosures, and fuel prices.
Substantive Importance
The study challenges the assumption that national economic evaluations are purely sociotropic or partisan. It highlights how geographic context–-what the authors term
Research Areas
Economic Voting, Geographic Context, Presidential Elections, County-Level Analysis, Quantitative Methods
Citation
@article{foreclosures,
author = {Reeves, Andrew and Gimpel, James G.},
title = {Ecologies of Unease: Geographic Context and National Economic Evaluations},
journal = {Political Behavior},
volume = {34},
number = {3},
pages = {507--534},
year = {2012},
}