POLS 207 Chapter 3

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Politics Among the States

Political Culture Differences Among the States

By the pigeonhole principle, if we have fewer than 50 political cultures, then at least two states must share the same political culture. Why?

political cultures (public & decision-maker attitude toward government) influence actions

Daniel Elazar labels political cultures:

traditionalistic

believe in a "normal" ordering of society

wealth and elite position expected to rule

government protects property from theft; little other role

election turnout should be low

decisions made by those most capable, not by typical citizens

mainly southern, former confederate states

moralistic

promotes good morals and virtue

governments serve God's purpose

high turnout for elections

far northern states

individualistic

government is strictly utilitarian (serving one's purpose)

government provides services (serves those who win it)

willing to let the wealthy pay taxes for it

highly metropolitan states (MA, CA, NY, IL, etc.)

Other Political Differences

Participation in Elections

Turnout for elections varies by state

• traditionalistic: low turnout
• individualistic: medium turnout
• moralistic: high turnout

Turnout does not change much over time.

Americans are not avid voters (usually <70% turnout), but turnout does vary across country

Liberals and Conservatives

(Book refuses to provide definitions)

liberal

"open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values."

"regarding many traditional beliefs as dispensable, invalidated by modern thought, or liable to change."

"broadly construed or undersood; not strictly literal or exact."

conservative

"holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion."

Traditionalistic states tend to be conservative, individualistic tends to be liberal, but can vary (as does moralistic)

Democratic and Republican Legislatures

States on coastlines are predominantly Democrat, where most of the plains states are predominantly republicans.

State Legislature

• 27 Democrat-controlled
• 14 Republican-controlled

State Governors

• 17 Democrat-controlled
• 8 Republican-controlled
• 24 partisan (result of election timing and gerrymandering)

80–90% partisan voters (vote for party candidate)

Competition Between Political Parties

Surious relationships: independent variable does not cause the dependent variable. Instead, both variables are effects of an underlying cause.

3 options for analyzing data:

1. no relationship
2. causal empirical relationship
3. no causal relationship (spurious relationship)

South has (X) single-party control and (Y) meager payments to Medicaid. X does not cause Y, Y is result of (Z) lower taxes and expenditures.

Cause and Effect: What Causes What?

Legislative logjams are political versions of procrastination: waiting until the final days of session to take action on previously passed bills. This causes chaos and crunch-time decision-making.

Viewing government as the actor is appealing and perhaps comforting. On reflection, the opposite view is equally plausible: government is reactive, not proactive.

proactive

forward-thinking, acting before potential problems arise

expected positive corellation between state program efforts and good results

reactive

legislature resulting by responding to events and problems

expected negative correlation between state program efforts and good results

Example: strong positive correlation between crime rates and incarceration. Incarceration is a reaction to crime rates.

Political Institution Differences Among the States

States have similar governing institutions, but they are subtly different.

Nebraska is the only state with a single chamber legislature.

Length of Sessions in the State Legislature

Number of days that legislatures meet over 2-year terms.

• used to be a few days every other year.
• 5 states meet for fewer than 60 days.
• 8 states meet more than 180 days.

Voting Methods in the American States

Punch cards or floppy disks scantrons or networked electronic platforms (38% in '06 to 33% in '08)

Conclusions about Political Differences

Available resources affect policies that are/may be enacted:

• poor state has few resources with which to solve problems
• wealthy state has many recoures and may have different problems

South stands apart politically and economically: if south is excluded, relationships vanish.