Working Paper: NBER ID: w31265
Authors: Benjamin Enke; Raymond Fisman; Luis Mota Freitas; Steven Sun
Abstract: This paper provides field evidence on the link between morals and political behavior. We develop a theory-guided real-stakes measure of each U.S. district's values on the universalism-particularism continuum, which reflects the degree to which charitable giving decreases as a function of social distance. District universalism is strongly predictive of local Democratic vote shares, legislators' roll-call voting, and the moral content of Congressional speeches. These results hold in both across- and within-party analyses. Overall, spatial heterogeneity in universalism is a substantially stronger predictor of geographic variation in political outcomes than traditional economic variables such as income or education.
Keywords: universalism; political representation; moral behavior; voting patterns
JEL Codes: D72
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| district universalism (Y40) | local democratic vote shares (D79) |
| district universalism (Y40) | legislators' roll-call voting (D72) |
| district universalism (Y40) | moral content of congressional speeches (A13) |
| district universalism (Y40) | left-leaning dwnominate scores (D79) |
| district universalism (Y40) | type of candidates elected (D79) |