A review of A GIS-based spatial analysis on neighborhood effects and voter turn-out: a case study in College Station, Texas
Some consider it a privilege to vote, others consider it their duty, and still others don’t even vote at all. Researchers Danile Sui and Peter Hugill show that people of the same neighborhood often vote for the same candidates which is called a contextual effect, or neighborhood effect. Many studies have been conducted on this topic, but few have incorporated GIS and spatial analysis on the individual level.
Voter Turnout Voting Results
Sui and Hugill georeferenced, a GIS based address matching procedure, each voter and non-voter for 3 changes being done in College Station and found that nonvoters were generally clustered in certain neighborhoods, as well as the voters. The voters themselves also seemed to live in areas with other likeminded voters. The researchers were able to use individual level data, derived from address matching, to explore the applicability of GIS-based spatial analytical procedures and examine the impacts of actual voter turnout on the neighborhood effect. The research of Danile Sui and Peter Hugill reveals the spatial heterogeneity and complexity of neighborhood effects and can be used for future insights on voting sciences and mechanics.
Sui, D., & Hugill, P. (2002). A GIS-based spatial analysis on neighborhood effects and voter turn-out: a case study in College Station, Texas. Political Geography, 21(2) 159-173. doi.org/10.1016/S0962-6298(01)00054-3.
I find it strange that somehow, voters have found a way to live among voters and non-voters have found a way to live with non-voters. No one checks out these statistics before they buy a house in a neighborhood. I think it has a lot to do with socioeconomic status. The neighborhood does have a lot to do with voter turn out though. But I think it isn't just about the people themselves but their income level or education level. There are many different factors that affect this topic and it is always interesting to find a study about voting.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it would be really interesting to see these same maps with average household incomes or education levels.
DeleteThis seems like a pretty unique way to analyze voting in a given area. Also, Seve makes a really good point about voter distribution. I agree with the comment pertaining to the correlation between voting and social-economic status. Do you think that the presence of a relatively large college community could effect this as well. I feel as though college aged individuals would be less likely to exercise their right to vote on local issues.
DeleteLike Seve said, I think it has a lot to do with socioeconomic status. In politics today, the lower classes tend to vote more democrat than republican, as wealthier tend to vote republican. Just look at this article, particularly the voting maps, the winners by state considering the poor's vote only and the rich's vote only.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.outsidethebeltway.com/economic_class_and_voting_behavior/
Socioeconomic status could definitely play a role in it. The neighborhood effects are based off of the idea that social interaction shapes people's political voting behavior, so it's only natural that people of similar socioeconomic status would want to live in the same community.
ReplyDeleteSome social scientists argue that socioeconomic classes group into communities not because people want to live together, but because certain groups don't want to live with other groups. This is known as Dissimilarity Index, which was compiled by Massy in the late 80s. Check out this site: http://what-when-how.com/sociology/segregation-indices/ There are some good segregation indices here. Could be an interesting GIS project comparing the indices with demographic data.
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