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Title: Why Partisans Don't Sort: How Quality Concerns Trump Americans' Desire for Like-Minded Neighbors

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2014

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Abstract: Democrats and Republicans state preferences for politically like-minded neighbors and community traits associated with their own party. Yet observational studies have not produced consistent evidence of partisan geographic sorting, the ongoing segregation of partisans into separate communities. In an original study of almost 5,000 self-identified Democrats and Republicans, we explain these divergent findings: preferences for co-partisan neighbors, while real, are low-salience. Three survey experiments reveal that partisans rarely prioritize politics when deciding where to live, instead turning to "valence" concerns such as home price and school quality. Partisans differ over urbanism, racial and partisan composition, and religion, but have few options to act on these preferences if they select first on neighborhood quality, or if resource constraints limit their mobility. Respondents' moving history shows that, except for Republicans exiting urban or racially diverse places, partisans do not, on average, sort. Partisan differences in residential preference seldom influence residential choice.

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Authors: Nall, Clayton; Mummolo, Jonathan

Publisher: Stanford

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Housing and Segregation, Other

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