Understanding the Political Consequences of Social Structure in the US

• In Event: Networks: US Politics and Theoretical Advances

Abstract

The experiences and perceptions of the mass public continue to receive considerable attention from scholars and pundits alike. Responses to the lifting and re-imposing of public health orders – and increasingly, economic challenges brought on my labor and supply chain issues – have (predictably) sorted along partisan lines. Questions about social identity and social influence remain important as ever, given the easing – and potential reintroduction – of distancing guidelines, the backdrop of affective polarization and misinformation, and the looming 2024 elections.

In this paper we draw upon two types of questions rarely included together in large-scale public opinion surveys: 1) A name generator to measure characteristics of individuals' core social networks -- e.g., political disagreement and discussion with close friends, family, and acquaintances a la Huckfeldt and Sprague (1995). 2) Aggregate relational data (ARD) questions designed to gauge individuals' broader patterns of exposure to individuals holding different political characteristics (e.g., Trump vs. Biden supporters), societal positions (e.g., people in law enforcement), and vulnerabilities (e.g., substance abusers) (e.g., McCormick et al. 2013). These items were submitted by the authors for inclusion in the COVID-STATES project, and were fielded to an unusually large, nationwide sample of 12,000 respondents in fall 2022. Other questions asked respondents for their opinions on an array of social and political issues.

By having information on core networks and on broader patterns of interpersonal exposure, we gain a much-needed sense of 1) what core social networks look like in relation to broader networks, and 2) how core networks may serve to regulate the effects of broader patterns of social embeddedness (particularly as they relate to dimensions of social identity). The large number of observations of the COVID STATES project – in many ways mirroring and extending the common-content advantages of the CES’ design – permits state and regional-level estimates of social distance/proximity to sub-populations. People experience their broader contexts through their networks, though many public opinion studies are not designed to bridge the micro and macro. The inclusion of these items allows us to link individuals and their opinions to the varying conditions they experience in terms of state-contexts. By understanding the extent to which geography shapes social interactions not just among partisans, but among other subpopulations as well, we gain a better understanding of political behavior and opinion dynamics in the American public (including potentially important differences that emerge across regions and subpopulations).

Authors

• Anand Edward Sokhey, University of Colorado, Boulder

• Matthew Pietryka, University of Wisconsin, Madison