How people imagine their communities sets the boundaries for the consideration of self or group interest, values, and ideology in their political lives. Who belongs inside a community and who is considered an outsider are determined by the types of its boundaries (be they relational or geographic) and where these boundaries are drawn. As Robert Frost explains in his poem Mending Wall, “There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard.” This line highlights another crucial feature of communities: they are pictures in the minds of individuals. If we want to understand why people support redistributive policies, the important lines dividing “our community” and “you people” are the ones that are imagined, not the ones printed on paper or built of stone.

The images of their communities are major considerations when people make decisions, both in and out of the realm of politics. How will the actions they choose and the policies they support affect different people, and whose interests will be taken into account? The story that many social scientists tell is one motivated by interests: we want to promote our own self-interest and, often, the interests of groups to which we belong. These interests are obviously important factors in how people make high-stakes decisions, such as where their children should go to school or which job they should take.