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What Do They Know and How Do They Know It?

An Examination of Citizen Awareness of Context

University of Missouri–St. Louis

Scott D. McClurg

Southern Illinois University

The connection between the individual and his or her aggregate geographic environment, usually defined as the neighborhood, is a key component of the contextual model of social influence. However, there is substantial anecdotal evidence that people have very little knowledge or connection to their neighborhood. In this article, the authors explore the connection by using data from the South Bend Study to answer two questions: What do people know about objective conditions of their neighborhoods? Second, do these conditions influence perceptions people have of their neighborhoods?The authors find that (a) people have a good deal of knowledge about the objective conditions, and (b) even after controlling for individual factors, these conditions positively influence how people perceive their status within the neighborhood. In short, there is a connection between the individual and the geographic context.

Key Words: political behavior • political context • political knowledge • South Bend • neighborhood effects

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