Electoral Effects of U.S. Soft Power: Evidence from Hollywood Movies in Cold War Italy
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This paper examines whether U.S. movies, a form of soft power, shaped Italian elections during the Cold War. Using fixed effects and instrumental variables on a new panel dataset, we find that greater exposure to American films shifted votes from the Communist Party to the U.S.-backed Christian Democrats, with small effects on other parties and turnout. Analysis of film plots, dialogues, and contemporary surveys provides evidence consistent with a cultural transmission mechanism: whereas domestic films stressed collective themes and redistribution, Hollywood affected electoral choices by embedding values of individualism, agency, meritocracy, and markets into Italian popular culture.