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Title: The Political Consequences of Spatial Policies: How Interstate Highways Facilitated Geographic Polarization

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2014

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Abstract: In the postwar era, Republican voters have become increasingly more likely than Democratic voters to live in non-urban counties, and the two parties distributed across increasingly distinct geographic enclaves. Public policies that shape geographic space have been a major contributor to this geographic polarization. This article examines the effect of the Interstate Highway System, the largest public works project in American history, on this phenomenon. Drawing on a historical database of postwar U.S. highway construction since passage of 1956 highway legislation, it shows that suburban counties with Interstate became more Republican than they would have otherwise, primarily in the less urbanized South and where highways were built earlier. Metropolitan areas with denser Interstate networks also became more polarized. Analysis of the Youth-Parent Socialization Panel Study (1965-1997) reveals individual-level mechanisms underlying these changes: suburbs along Interstates facilitated white flight and became home to more affluent residents, reinforcing partisan geographic polarization.

Url: http://polisci2.ucsd.edu/pelg/8.nall_highways_polarization.pdf

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Authors: Nall, Clayton

Publisher: Stanford University

Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS

Topics: Land Use/Urban Organization, Other

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