Colloquium: Local Shocks and Political Behavior

ABSTRACT: This dissertation examines how local shocks shape political behavior. Across projects on election administration, voting technology, and environmental disruption, it studies how changes in local conditions affect participation, adaptation, and political alignment. The presentation focuses on ongoing work using voter registration data from North Carolina to analyze how flood exposure influences political adaptation following residential moves. Exploiting variation in flood exposure and mobility in a difference-in-differences framework, the project shows how exposed movers differentially adjust party registration in response to the partisan composition of their destination.