Charitable giving is lower in places with competitive politics and giving declines among people when their party is in the minority, NC State professor Richard Clerkin and his co-authors found in a recent paper.

Another interesting aspect of the study is its presumption that taxes complement charitable giving, which means Democrats who choose to live in high-tax places may do so as a form of redistribution. This presumption is consistent with economics experiments in which participants choose higher taxes for the group as a way to combat free riding by others, which increases over time.