Tuesday Seminar – 23 March

Do Neighborhoods Empower or Disenfranchise? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Effects of Spatial Disadvantage and Ethnoracial Segregation on Voter Registration in France

Haley McAvay (University of York)
Pavlos Vasilopoulos (University of York)

Prior research from different national contexts indicates persistent ethnic/racial disparities in  political participation. Studies have sought to explain these disparities by focusing on  compositional differences between groups in socioeconomic resources, as well as on the impact  of citizens’ local communities. This article investigates unequal voter registration in France  focusing on differences across ethnic/racial groups and neighborhoods. We make a novel  contribution to the literature by leveraging longitudinal data over a twenty-year period and by  focusing on the effects of both the ethnoracial and socioeconomic composition of  neighborhoods. Using an event history model, we show that minorities are indeed less likely  than natives to register to vote, yet neighborhood and individual-level variables account for  these disparities. Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood exerts a negative effect on  registration, net of individual and neighborhood heterogeneity. However, the presence of co ethnics in the neighborhood has a mobilizing effect for some groups. African-origin and French  majority citizens are in fact more likely to register as the share of co-ethnics increases in their  local areas. 

Contact Semih Çakır if you would like to participate in the seminar.

This content has been updated on 20 March 2021 at 17 h 55 min.