Who Participates in Local Elections? Evidence from Current Population Survey

• In Event: Poster Session: Urban Politics & International Order, Environmental Issues, and IPE
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Urban Politics

Abstract

Municipal elections, those which take place from the county-level down, have had historically low participation rates in the United States. Knowing who does and does not participate in local elections is important because it will allow the field of American politics to better understand whose interests are being represented in local governing bodies and to explain how and why local governing bodies make the decisions that they do. Through logit regression analysis on survey responses from the U.S. Census Bureau’s September 2019 Current Population Survey Volunteering and Civic Life Supplement, this paper analyzes self-reported participation in local elections, the demographic characteristics of voters, and the size of the metropolitan areas where the voters reside.

Author

• Jacob Sutherland, University of California Irvine