Recovering Voice: Is Out-of-District Giving a Substitute for Local Political Participation?

Abstract

A growing share of Americans live in electorally lopsided congressional districts, potentially depressing their political participation. Unlike with voting, there are no place-based restrictions on giving, raising the question of whether individuals disengaged by lopsided home districts find voice through greater non-local giving. I explore this using the post-2010 redistricting, which exogenously reassigned individuals to more, or less, competitive districts. When an individual's district becomes less competitive, she donates less within district and more out of district. Givers thus regard non-local giving as a substitute for local participation, and a dollar reduction in within-district giving increases out-of-district giving by $0.62. 

Keywords: Political participation, substitution, redistricting, donating out-of-district, nationalization of U.S. politics

JEL Classification: D72