Replication Data for: Health and Voting in Rural America

This research explores the impact of health on voter turnout, with the goal of uncovering important variation in dynamics across rural communities. Drawing on the results of county and individual-level analyses, including novel survey data from an Appalachian community, this study finds that health matters less for rural voters. Models using county-level data indicate that poor health is significantly and negatively related to voter turnout across counties, even when controlling for educational attainment, poverty, diversity, and political competition. However, health loses its explanatory power in rural counties once a control for religiosity is introduced. Health is also a less important predictor in rural places where there is a high cost of voting, a finding counter to the notion that high costs would uniformly amplify the negative effects of health disparities. Models using individual-level data provide support for many of these findings, while also generating new insights into the complexity of rural political behavior. Overall, this study suggests that place has an important role in understanding the engagement of American voters.本研究探讨健康对选民投票率的影响，旨在揭示乡村社区间选举动态的显著差异。本研究借助县级与个体层面的分析结果——包括来自阿巴拉契亚地区的全新调研数据——发现健康因素对乡村选民的影响相对较弱。采用县级数据构建的模型显示，即便控制了受教育程度、贫困状况、人口多样性与政治竞争程度等变量，各县的健康状况不佳仍与选民投票率呈显著负相关关系。但在纳入宗教信仰程度作为控制变量后，健康因素在乡村县域中的解释力便不复存在。在投票成本较高的乡村地区，健康同样并非重要的预测因子，这一发现与“高投票成本会普遍放大健康差距的负面影响”的观点相悖。采用个体层面数据构建的模型验证了上述多数结论，同时也为理解乡村政治行为的复杂性提供了新视角。总体而言，本研究表明，地域环境对于理解美国选民的政治参与具有重要作用。