How are " guilt by association " and " coat-tailing" related

Guilt by association and coat-tailing are related because in both cases, people are being judged based on something other than their actions and behavior.

In other words, both guilty by association and coat-tailing have to do with judging people based on others. Moreover, when you are guilty by association a person can be guilty of something, even though he or she didn't do anything wrong, just because they were associated with people who were guilty.