TY  - JOUR
AU  - Glaeser,Edward L.
AU  - Ward,Bryce A.
TI  - Myths and Realities of American Political Geography
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11857
PY  - 2005
Y2  - December 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11857
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11857.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Edward L. Glaeser
Department of Economics
315A Littauer Center
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-0575
Fax: 617/495-7730
E-Mail: eglaeser@harvard.edu

Bryce Ward
NBER
1050 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge MA 02138
E-Mail: bward@fas.harvard.edu
AB  - The division of America into red states and blue states misleadingly suggests that states are split into two camps, but along most dimensions, like political orientation, states are on a continuum. By historical standards, the number of swing states is not particularly low, and America's cultural divisions are not increasing. But despite the flaws of the red state/blue state framework, it does contain two profound truths. First, the heterogeneity of beliefs and attitudes across the United States is enormous and has always been so. Second, political divisions are becoming increasingly religious and cultural. The rise of religious politics is not without precedent, but rather returns us to the pre-New Deal norm. Religious political divisions are so common because religious groups provide politicians the opportunity to send targeted messages that excite their base.
ER  -