Abstract
Existing research on urban referendum voting offers several different explanations of local voting patterns, but these usually are not tested against one another in a way that can demonstrate the relative importance of each. This research analyzes the response by voters in Kansas City, Missouri, to two tax-and-spending-type propositions and a fluoridation proposal by using predictor variables representative of the "socioeconomic status" explanation, the surge model of alienated voting, the "taxpayer-revolt" explanation, and "community cleavage" explanations. The results highlight the explanatory importance of racial cleavage, provide a contingency perspective on the significance of the socioeconomic status explanation, and call into question both the taxpayer-revolt explanation and any simplified surge model of alienated voting.
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