How local candidates mobilize voters: Evidence from India

Since V.O. Key's seminal study the so-called ‘friends and neigh-bours’ effect has been documented in a large number of countries, for different types of election, over a sustained period of time. Yet, de-spite the regularity of the empirical finding, the reasons behind this phenomenon are poorly understood. In this article we provide a com-prehensive analysis of different potential mechanisms underpinning the local advantage. We hypothesize that the existing social networks of local candidates form an important type of secondary mobilization. These mobilization networks help to extend the range of people who are contacted by a campaign, boosting candidate support and in the process increasing turnout in the local area. We test these hypotheses using geo-matched micro-level polling booth data to exploit within-electoral-district variation in candidate vote share and turnout in In-dia (N = 534,552). Our findings indicate that the relationship between candidate proximity and vote choice may owe more to candidate-side actions and the campaign resources associated with localism than pre-viously appreciated.