Suburban Voters

The suburbs, particularly the lower density, automobile-dependent variety with their own municipal government, hold special interest for those interested in political behavior, not only at the level of local or urban politics, but also at the regional, national, and global scales. There are at least two reasons for this: (1) There is evidence that suburban residence has independent effects on voting behavior and ideology; and (2) owing to suburbanization, the suburbs represent a growing proportion, and in some cases a majority, of electoral districts, representatives, and voters, and thus embody ever-greater political and policy influence. However, there are many different kinds of suburbs and multiple possible forms of suburbanism. In turn, both the effects of suburbanization and the kinds of political behavior associated with suburban ...