Federico Masera, UNSW - Political Influence During Childhood

Title: Political Influence During Childhood

Abstract: We study the role of office-holders in the formation of political preferences during childhood. To do so, we investigate the political influence of U.S. state governors leveraging data on 200 million registered voters and a regression discontinuity design based on gubernatorial elections. We show that governors systematically shift voters’ partisan alignment toward their own party. These effects are concentrated among individuals who were between the ages of 7 and 17 during a governor’s tenure. Growing up under exclusively Republican governors, compared to exclusively Democratic ones, increases the probability of registering as a Republican in adulthood by 10 percentage points. We further document lasting impacts on primary participation, partisan donations, and political attitudes. The effects are strongest for governors with greater access to institutional resources and more control over education policy.

Presenter:  Federico Masera, UNSW

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