Name:
Course: GOVT 2301
Date:
IN-CLASS EXERCISE #2
[from AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, AN INTRODUCTION USING MICROCASE EXPLORIT, 6th edition]
In Exercise #1, we learned that, historically, the regional division between the South and
the rest of the country was very important in shaping political developments in the United
States. While the so-called “Solid South” no longer exists, the South is still a distinctive
region.
One way to isolate the remnants of southern regionalism by examining the circulation
rates of the magazine SOUTHERN ACCENTS. While the magazine has subscribers in all 50
states, they are highly concentrated in the states of the Old South. Notice how similar the
map above (top), showing the circulation of SOUTHERN ACCENTS, is to the map examined
in Exercise #1 showing the states of the Confederacy during the Civil War (bottom).
Examine the rankings of the states for circulation of the magazine. [Only the highest
fifteen and lowest fifteen ranks are reproduced here.] Georgia has the highest circulation
rate (385.2 copies per 100,000 population) closely followed by Alabama, the Carolinas,
Tennessee, and Mississippi. Utah, the Dakotas, and Montana have the lowest rates.
The South is only one region of the country. The Bureau of the Census defines the major
regions of the country as the East, Midwest, South, and West. These regions are shown
by the map below.
The Midwest
The West
The South
The
East
Dividing the country into these regions is very useful. States within a given region have
certain historical, political, economic, and cultural similarities. But they fail to capture
the real subtleties of American regionalism: that the nation consists of various regions,
depending on what is at issue.
Indeed, the famous analogy of the great American “melting pot” is somewhat of an
exaggeration when one examines the regional variations that exist in terms of ethnicity,
economics, and culture. Let’s examine several such variables – however, rather than
using the states as our unit of analysis, we shall examine these variables at a county level.
The advantage of the county-level data (map) is that it shows more details of the
variations that exist across the nation. The top map provides a county-level breakdown
of African Americans as a percentage of the total population. Note that the Old South
contains the largest concentration of Africans Americans.
The bottom map indicates the percentage of Hispanics. By examining this map, we see
that people of Hispanic origin are most likely to live in the southwestern part of the
United States.
How about Native Americans? In what part of the country do they primarily reside?
Examine the map on the next page. Whereas the South is widely populated by African
Americans, and the Southwest has large percentages of people of Hispanic origin, Native
American populations tend to be concentrated in particular counties, particularly in
Oklahoma, Arizona, and Nevada. In fact, there are numerous instances where a county
having a high percentage of Native Americans borders a county with a very low
percentage. This phenomenon reflects the location of reservations.
Another important way to view regional variation in the United States is to look at wealth
and poverty rates.
An examination of the top map reveals that the highest rates of poverty occur in the
Appalachian region and throughout much of the South. Notice that poverty rates are
particularly low in the Northeast and in portions of the Midwest.
More generally, there are 130 counties in which at one-third of the population live below
the official poverty rate. By contrast, there are dozens of counties in which less than 5%
of the population live below the poverty level.
The bottom map displays the median family income for each county. Not surprisingly,
this map is nearly the opposite of the top map. For instance, notice that the dark areas in
the top map tend to be lightly shaded in the bottom map, and vice versa.
Let’s conclude by comparing two more maps: one shows the percentage of earnings that
come from farming and the other shows the percentage of earnings that come from
manufacturing.
Unfortunately, because of the detail of these county-level maps does not photocopy well,
the patterns are not as apparent as they should be. Nevertheless, the distinctions between
the farming and manufacturing regions are clear. People living in the central part of the
country are more likely to rely on farming for income than those living in the East.
Likewise, people living in the East are more likely to be employed in manufacturing.
In Exercise #1, we saw that it was the similarities of the early colonies that helped pave
the way to nationhood. By the middle of the 19th century, it was regional differences
among the states that led to the Civil War. The political differences of the mid-19th
century continued well into the 20th century. Today, there continue to be substantial
social, cultural, and economic differences across the regions of the nation. But do these
differences have political implications as they did in the past? Although these differences
are unlikely to lead to civil war, they surely affect the way people vote, the laws and
policies that are enacted at the state and local levels, the decisions that are made in courts,
and so on.
For instance, it is likely that states with high percentages of families on public aid will be
more concerned with issues that relate to social programs. Voters in states where family
incomes are relatively high might be more responsive to political candidates who propose
lower taxes on investment earnings. States with large percentages of people who speak a
language other than English may be more concerned with laws relating to bilingual
education and immigration. Indeed, regionalism is an important factor in American
politics.
Exercises
In 1860, there were 15 “slave states” – states that had not outlawed slavery. However,
not all of these states seceded from the Union. Let’s see if we can determine why some
seceded and others did not. In this analysis, we’ll include only the 15 slave states. These
states are indicated by the map below.
Now let’s look at a list of the states.