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Mister Landslide's Neighborhood - Red versus blue states isn't the half of it. By Timothy Noah
by k at 3:24 pm EDT, Apr 7, 2004

] By crunching demographic numbers (in collaboration with
] the paper's statistical consultant, Robert Cushing),
] Bishop has been able to demonstrate that the United
] States isn't merely separated by Red (Republican) and
] Blue (Democratic) states; it's also separated,
] increasingly, by Red and Blue counties. The likelihood
] that you will ever argue politics with your neighbor is
] diminishing rapidly, because it's less and less likely
] that, politically, you and your neighbor will ever
] disagree.

[ An interesting little piece about the county-level political homogeneity the nation has been experiencing in the past 25 or so years. This was sort of striking to me, though I guess not surprising... i just hadn't thought about it before.

The conclusion the article makes is possibly valid (and I won't spoil it -- go read).

After reading it though, I'm more curious if this trend isn't countered somewhat by the increasing role of the internet and phone in our social lives... I may not discuss politics with my neighbor, but i do so daily with you folks online...

I'm also curious why it's happening, and by what mechanism. I've never said a word about politics to any of my IRL neighbors. Does political ideology carry an aura with it? What are the visible traits a particular political party imprints on a county -- school arts funding levels, number of trees and parks, wealth, distance from nightlife? Fascinating. -k]

RE: Mister Landslide's Neighborhood - Red versus blue states isn't the half of it. By Timothy Noah
by Decius at 5:35 pm EDT, Apr 7, 2004

inignoct wrote:
] What are the visible traits a particular political party
] imprints on a county -- school arts funding levels, number of
] trees and parks, wealth, distance from nightlife?
] Fascinating.

I wrote this a few days ago:

Left/right politics in the United States seem to me to have a rather stark urban/rural split. This is fairly clear in the electoral results. (Dennis Miller once remarked that Democrats seem to be attracted to water, missing the obvious connection between big cities and old sea transportation routes.)

People in the city tend to be concerned with things like homelessness, poverty, etc because they are constantly confronted with it. They see guns as things that kill people. They are tolerant of diversity because they are surrounded by it. Furthermore, in general they are quite interdependent with others around them because of the way they live. Thus they tend, statistically, to support welfare, gun control, and the separation of church and state.

People in the country dont really interact with homeless/poor on a daily basis, so they are less inclined to spent moned on social programs. They see guns as a hobby. They dont see the problem with teaching their religious values in school because they dont know anyone who doesnt practice their religion. In general, people in the country tend to be more independent of others because of they way they live. Thus they tend, statistically, to support lower taxes, oppose gun control, and oppose the separation of church and state.