Proximity Politics - by Jeronimo Cortina

About the Book

Proximity Politics is a groundbreaking examination of the role of distance in shaping attitudes, behaviors, and understandings of the world.

Book Synopsis

Republicans who live closer to the U.S.-Mexico border are less likely to support constructing a wall than those who live farther away. After a mass shooting, gun sales and permit applications skyrocket in nearby communities. Experiencing an extreme weather event like a hurricane or flood can encourage someone to attribute climate change to human activity. Why do we react so differently to faraway events and ones that take place on our doorsteps, and what does this reveal about our political landscape?

Proximity Politics is a groundbreaking examination of the role of distance in shaping attitudes, behaviors, and understandings of the world. Analyzing geocoded survey data, Jeronimo Cortina documents the crucial ways space and place influence public opinion. He demonstrates that the closer someone is to an event, social group, or policy, the likelier they are to have first-hand, specific, grounded knowledge of the subject. Conversely, distance leads to detachment, making it more likely that decontextualized or unreliable information and individual or group biases will prevail. Considering a range of case studies, from virus outbreaks to protests, Cortina unravels how spatial, emotional, temporal, social, and cultural distances affect public opinion. Bringing together quantitative and qualitative data in an accessible style, Proximity Politics shows that even in today's interconnected world, we are still profoundly influenced by what happens next door.

Review Quotes

Distance is central to social life but rarely studied. In this pioneering, synthesizing book, Cortina shows how distance shapes our interactions with the social world on topics ranging from climate change to school shootings. Social scientists and engaged citizens alike will need to keep this book close.--Daniel Hopkins, author of Stable Condition: Elites' Limited Influence on Health Care Attitudes

This important book reveals the underrecognized role of distance, space, and place in shaping political attitudes and behaviors. Moreover, it does so in a theoretically rich and multidisciplinary way, which can speak to the role of distance and space as they intersect with other fields.--Johanna Dunaway, coauthor of News and Democratic Citizens in the Mobile Era

Drawing on multiple disciplines, Cortina shows how proximity shapes public opinion: those closer to an issue form nuanced views based on "here and now" experiences, while those farther away rely instead on media and partisan cues. His engaging book explores this dynamic across issues ranging from immigration to climate change, illuminating how distance exacerbates polarization. Highly recommended.--Beth Elise Whitaker, coauthor of Africa's International Relations: Balancing Domestic and Global Interests

About the Author

Jeronimo Cortina is associate professor of political science and executive director of the Population Health Collaborative at the University of Houston. He is coeditor of A Quantitative Tour of the Social Sciences (with Andrew Gelman, 2009) and New Perspectives on International Migration and Development (Columbia, 2013).