Noonan, KellyIvanisevic, Niko2022-07-142026-09-292022-07-142026-09-292022-04-122022-07-14http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01sn00b194phttps://theses-dissertations.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp01sn00b194pThe research is based off the question, when a state changes its party affiliation in presidential elections, do the residents of those states have increased alcohol consumption in the subsequent years of the party transition? To see the effect that a state party transition has on its residents, data was pooled from the annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 2007 to 2019. Two measures of alcohol consumption were investigated: simply if the individual had drunk in the prior 30 days to their survey and if they had partaken in binge drinking in the prior 30 days. Using the main explanatory variable of if a state underwent a political party affiliation transition, difference-in-difference models were run to see the impact this event has on its state residents. No significant change was seen in an individual’s consumption of alcohol from an overall party transition. However, when breaking down the transition into the two possibilities of a Republican to Democratic or Republican to Democratic, significant results were found in opposite directions. A Democratic to Republican transition resulted in statistically significant decreases in an individual’s drinking consumption. This effect was strongest in the first year of the transition and fades away with each additional year of the transition. On the contrary, a Republican to Democratic transition resulted in significant increases in the individual’s consumption rate of alcohol in the last 30 days. This effect was strongest in the first year as well and fades with each additional year of the transition. These two effects from the different manners of a political party transition are masked by when just examining if the state undergoes a transition and not differentiating the two possibilities.application/pdfenPrinceton University Senior Theses