Voting and Migration Patterns in the U.S.

George Hawley is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama. His research interests include demography, electoral behavior, political parties, immigration policy, and the U.S. Congress.

• Introduction. Part I: Migration and Partisan Self-Selection 1. Geographic Segregation in the United States 2. A Theory of Geographic Partisan Sorting 3. Geographic Partisan Sorting: Empirical Evidence Part II: Migration and Political Change 4. The Geography of Family Formation 5. Race and Migration as a Source of Political Diversity and Homogeneity 6. Occupation as a Source of Political Diversity and Homogeneity Part III: A Case Study 7: Harris County, TX: Political Segregation in the Nation’s Largest Swing County. Conclusion

"Where we choose to live is clearly affecting our politics. George Hawley tells how migration is shaping the vote by explaining why Americans live where they do today."—Bill Bishop, co-author of The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart"George Hawley has made a major contribution to renewed interest in political demography with his new book. He ably reviews the recent literature that documents some of the most prominent consequences of 21st century demography. Hawley’s analysis reveals how major demographic shifts in marriage and family formation, urban-rural divergence, and racial-ethnic population movement are important aspects of these political shifts. He demonstrates there is evidence that, for a growing number of Americans, the desire to live in neighborhoods where their social and political values are congruent with their neighbors is a contributing factor to the geographic polarization that now overlaps with partisan polarization in America. For scholars and citizens interested in the driving forces of political change in the United States, this book is a must-read."—Richard W. Murray, University of Houston