The Geographic Roots of Political
Polarization
Stanford political science professor and
sometime Democratic Party consultant Jonathan Rodden has written an important
book on how and why urban Democratic voters appear to be under-represented in
Congress and state legislatures. At its
very essence the median congressional/legislative district is more conservative
than the median voter. This phenomenon is a result of urban liberals being
geographically concentrated in overwhelmingly Democratic districts while more
conservative rural and suburban voters are more geographically spread out in
majority Republican districts. Thus the elimination of partisan gerrymandering
would help, but not cure the fundamental disadvantage urban voters’ face.
Rodden’s data driven book goes back to
the late 19th Century where urban working class oriented parties
established themselves around worker housing near major railroad lines and
mines. He not only discusses the U.S., but he is international in his outlook
with case studies from the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the
Netherlands. He notes that where there is proportional representation urban
voters are not under-represented, but with community based winner take all
districts, the urban voter is under-represented.
His solution to the problem in the U.S.
is for urban Democrats to be more tolerant of the views of their country and
suburban cousins and therefore allow “blue dogs” into their party. That was
true in the 1970s and 80s, but far less so today. In fact there are little Robespierre’s
seeking to eliminate those Democrats through the primary process who don’t hold
to the current liberal orthodoxy.
My guess is that the logjam will be
broken when the dominant Republican and Democratic parties break up into three
parties which I would name a Trumpist Populist Party, an establishment
Democratic Left Hamiltonian Party and a Social Democratic left party.
Rodden’s book is very dense with data
and sometimes the read is a slog, but an interested reader trying to understand
the polarization of American politics can do no worse than to read his book.
The full amazon URL appears at: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2NCFHO2516E4C/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv
