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In recent decades, the size of the rural population in the United States, as in most advanced industrialized countries, has been decreasing. Past research has examined political attitudes and behaviors in rural America, but has not considered whether overtime variation in these attitudes and behaviors might be a function of rural population loss and its associated economic consequences. As rural areas shrink, they may lose economic and political power, leading to a decrease in political efficacy and trust. Additionally, as rural areas face decline, partisanship and vote choice patterns may shift as rural areas have new policy demands. Together, these changes in attitudes may affect participation patterns, as rural-urban polarization may lead to an increase in participation, or the increased alienation of rural citizens may lead to them choosing not to participate.