From Bonding to Bridging: Neighborhood Context Effects on Voting Behavior in California
39 Pages Posted: 13 Jul 2007
Date Written: June 2007
Abstract
This paper empirically examines the effects of community racial context on voters' preferences for public education in California. In the 2000 General Elections, voters in California were faced with a ballot proposition, Proposition 39, also known as the Smaller Classes, Safer Schools and Financial Accountability Act. I estimate the probability of voting Yes on Proposition 39 given the demographic characteristics of the census tract in which the voter resides using both parametric and semiparametric methods. My results show that preferences for public school spending are higher in communities with extremely low and high levels of racial fractionalization, and are lowest in communities with intermediate levels of fractionalization. I also use an alternative index, ethnic polarization, to capture across-group attitudes and preferences for public education within communities. My empirical results support the theory of a negative relationship between group polarization and support for Proposition 39. I also find that polarization by socioeconomic status or political ideology has a relatively larger negative impact on preferences for public school spending compared to polarization by ethnicity or by group identification to being American.
Keywords: Ethnicity, fractionalization, polarization, voting behavior
JEL Classification: H4, D72, D64
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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