Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government faculty Andreas Madestam
and David Yanagizawa-Drott wrote a paper almost a decade ago about early childhood experiences of July 4th shaping later adult behavior.
A bit lengthy (and academic) th paper examines whether social interactions and cultural practices affect political views and behavior in society.
The authors investigated the issue by documenting a major social and cultural event at different stages in life: the Fourth of July celebrations in the United States during the 20th century.
Using absence of rainfall as a proxy for participation in the event, we find that days without rain on Fourth of July in childhood shift adult views and voting in favor of the Republicans and increase turnout in presidential elections. The effects we estimate are highly persistent throughout life and originate in early age.
Rain-free Fourth of Julys experienced as an adult also make it more likely that people identify as Republicans, but the effect depreciates substantially after a few years. Taken together, the evidence suggests that political views and behavior derive from social and cultural experience in early childhood, and that Fourth of July shapes the political landscape in the Unites States.
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