Journal article
Despair and Voter Turnout in the United States
Journal of health politics, policy and law, Vol.50(3), pp.337-370
06/01/2025
DOI: 10.1215/03616878-11670168
PMID: 39545680
Abstract
Deaths of despair, a term used to capture rising mortality rates among Americans who appear to be suffering from growing mental and physical distress, have received added attention from those seeking to understand this disturbing trend. Yet it is unclear how, if at all, despair influences the political behavior of the people and communities where it is most prominent. The authors contribute to the health and politics literature by examining whether personal and community-level despair shapes political participation.CONTEXTDeaths of despair, a term used to capture rising mortality rates among Americans who appear to be suffering from growing mental and physical distress, have received added attention from those seeking to understand this disturbing trend. Yet it is unclear how, if at all, despair influences the political behavior of the people and communities where it is most prominent. The authors contribute to the health and politics literature by examining whether personal and community-level despair shapes political participation.The authors examine the relationship between despair and voter turnout using novel data at both the aggregate and individual levels. First, a custom survey is used to test whether despair is associated with individual-level voter participation in several recent elections. Second, a new measure of community despair is developed at the county level that spans nearly 20 years to assess whether there is a relationship between despair and voter turnout in U.S counties.METHODSThe authors examine the relationship between despair and voter turnout using novel data at both the aggregate and individual levels. First, a custom survey is used to test whether despair is associated with individual-level voter participation in several recent elections. Second, a new measure of community despair is developed at the county level that spans nearly 20 years to assess whether there is a relationship between despair and voter turnout in U.S counties.The results suggest that higher levels of despair lead to lower turnout rates at both the individual and community levels.FINDINGSThe results suggest that higher levels of despair lead to lower turnout rates at both the individual and community levels.This study suggests that the effects of experiencing despair are far reaching and shape political behavior among individuals and within communities.CONCLUSIONSThis study suggests that the effects of experiencing despair are far reaching and shape political behavior among individuals and within communities.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Despair and Voter Turnout in the United States
- Creators
- William Franko - West Virginia UniversityJulianna Pacheco - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of health politics, policy and law, Vol.50(3), pp.337-370
- DOI
- 10.1215/03616878-11670168
- PMID
- 39545680
- NLM abbreviation
- J Health Polit Policy Law
- ISSN
- 1527-1927
- eISSN
- 1527-1927
- Publisher
- DUKE UNIV PRESS
- Grant note
- National Science Foundation: 2210129 Cornell Center for Social SciencesJeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell UniversityRoper Center for Public Opinion ResearchDepartment of Political Science at the University of IowaCenter for Social Science Innovation at the University of Iowa
The Collaborative Midterm Survey is funded by the National Science Foundation (award no. 2210129) , with additional support from the Cornell Center for Social Sciences, the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University, the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, the Department of Political Science at the University of Iowa, and the Center for Social Science Innovation at the University of Iowa. We are grateful for the feedback we received from participants at the 2023 State Politics and Policy Conference. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the journal editors for their helpful comments and suggestions.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 11/15/2024
- Date published
- 06/01/2025
- Academic Unit
- Center for Social Science Innovation; Political Science
- Record Identifier
- 9984749497002771
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