The urban electorate in presidential elections, 1920-1996

This study of voting in presidential elections in 12 central cities from 1920 to 1996 shows that cities played a crucial rob in the New Deal realignment that dominated presidential elections from 1932 to the 1960s. Since then, cities have declined as a share of the total electorate, but they still provide crucial votes for successful Democratic presidential candidates. As cities have increasingly deviated from national voting trends, however, their turnout rates have increasingly fallen behind the national rates. A call is issued for researchers to break down the suburban vote and to examine contextual effects on voting behavior.