Elizabeth Mitchell Elder

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder, a political scientist who studies public opinion and institutions. She discusses coal’s grip on Appalachia and the Illinois Basin and how company control stunted local government capacity. She describes historical corruption, lasting civic cynicism, and surprising midcentury outmigration. The conversation links place-based histories to modern mistrust of government.

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder, a political scientist at the Hoover Institution studying how industry shapes political beliefs. She explores coal-dominated Midwest and Appalachian places. She describes how mining firms supplanted local government, fostered corruption, and left lasting institutional weakness. She traces persistent public cynicism and political shifts rooted in those historical patterns.

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder, a political scientist at the Hoover Institution, studies how mining shaped local politics. She discusses coal’s role in weakening municipal capacity and privatizing services. She recounts historical corruption, persistent local mistrust of government, party realignment in coal regions, and surprising mid-century outmigration that reshaped political life.