Urbanization and Party Competition: A Note on Shifting Conceptualization and a Report of Further Data

Abstract

Five studies purportedly assessing the hypothesis that urbanization is positively related to the competitiveness of party systems at the county level are briefly reviewed to demonstrate a shift in the conceptualization of party competition. It is argued that in the initial statement of the hypothesis, competitiveness was conceptualized as a structural characteristic of a party system, but that through attempts to refine measurement procedures an undetected conceptual shift to competitiveness as a characteristic of a political contest occurred. This conceptual shift renders invalid many of the inferences drawn in the more recent of these studies. Employing the conceptual definition of competitiveness as a characteristic of a political contest, data concerning the relationship between urbanization and party competition for four statewide and national offices for all counties in the United States for the decade 1946–56 are presented. The most general finding is that urbanization is of little utility in predicting the competitiveness of political contests at the county level. There is, however, considerable variation in this regard by office and historical voting block.