Date of Award

Spring 5-16-2026

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Advisor(s)

Alessandro Saluppo

Second Advisor

Sarah P. Lockhart, Ph.D.

Abstract

This paper examines how rural identity, kinship networks, and community relationships shape voting behavior through a comparative analysis of rural regions in the United States and Spain. With a base structure on sociological and political research on rural development and the rural–urban political divide, this study explores how social trust, family reputation, and community ties influence electoral support in rural communities. Using electoral data from national archives and the Global Elections Database, the analysis focuses on voting patterns from 1986 to 2024 in two rural U.S. congressional districts, West Virginia’s 2nd and Pennsylvania’s 9th, and two rural regions in Spain: Asturias in Principado de Asturias and Cáceres in Extremadura. The study also considers how institutional differences between the candidate centered electoral system of the United States and Spain’s party list proportional representation shape relationships between voters and political representatives. The findings and data within the paper suggest that in rural areas of the United States, kinship networks, political dynasty families, and long-standing community relationships play a visible role in shaping electoral outcomes. In Spain, although party-list systems make individual candidates less prominent, similar dynamics appear through patterns of party support during periods of economic strain or perceived political neglect. Across both cases, rural voters tend to support candidates or parties they believe recognize and represent rural interests. The study argues that rural voting behavior is shaped not only by ideology but also by local identity, social trust, and perceptions of representation.

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