Geographic Polarization, Partisan Voting, And The Battle Over Same‐Sex Marriage Within The Culture War

Abstract

Geographic polarization arises when partisan, or like‐minded, voters live in enclaves separate from voters of differing partisan behavior. Research studies at multiple scales of analysis suggest that geographic polarization most typically occurs regarding partisan voting behavior; however, few studies have analyzed polarization with a focus on policy preferences. This research examines same‐sex marriage policy through two statewide issues that shared the presidential election ballot in 2004. The results of that presidential election and these two ballot initiatives are examined in Cincinnati, Ohio, and counties in its surrounding Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in both Ohio and Kentucky. A geographically polarized relationship was found between partisan results and same‐sex marriage results. In addition, the findings suggest that despite a close link between partisan voting and issue voting on same‐sex marriage, spatial clustering (geographic polarization) was identified of those who voted differently from their fellow partisans.

235 Years since the Electoral College: A Probabilistic Consideration of Voting Power

“…This assumption meant a fifty-fifty chance of voting each way. While it can be said that each voter does not normally consider each candidate equally and each state usually belongs to a partisan voting bloc [10], it is beyond the scope of the article to discover how a voter's power may change based on partisan views. The opposite of theoretical (a priori ) voting is a posteriori voting power, often termed as actual voting power.…”

Theories of the voting behaviour in the context of electoral and urban geography

“…Using cyberspace data, CHEN-ROHLA (2018) has shown that after the 2016 presidential election, political polarization has become very high that those family members whose voting for different presidential candidates spent significantly less time on the postelection family event (Thanksgiving). For the geographic polarization, KINSELLA et al (2019) discovered clear spatial divide between the locations of partisan voters and the policy issue voters in several major cities of US on microscale. The interesting thing about their research is that it compares the spatial results of a referendum on a cultural war issue (same-sex marriage) with party support, and there was a strong relationship between the partisan and policy issue voters.…”