Daniel Shea and Nicholas Jacobs work to understand this phenomenon in their new book, Local Voters – The Politics of Place and America’s Divide.
WATERVILLE, Maine — You didn’t have to be a government professor to notice that rural Maine was filled with Trump campaign signs during the 2020 presidential election, but you didn’t have to walk into Portland, Bangor to notice that rural Maine was filled with Trump campaign signs. The sign has all but disappeared from the landscape. Lewiston and other cities.
These signs underscored a very real political phenomenon stretching from Maine to Alaska: America’s sharp political divide between rural and urban America. Simply put, domestically, voters tend to support the Republican Party. In urban areas, they are usually aligned with the Democratic Party.
Daniel Shea and Nicholas Jacobs watched the ebb and flow of these campaign signs as they drove from their homes in Mount Vernon and Vassalboro, respectively, to their offices at Colby College in Waterville, where they are professors of government. I saw it. Now, in their new book, “Rural Voters: The Politics of Place and America’s Divide,” they take a closer look at political divisions.
To better understand disparities, Shea and Jacobs say they have “assembled the most comprehensive, data-driven account of rural politics in existence.” With the help of Colby’s students, they surveyed his more than 10,000 rural voters and his 4,000 non-local residents.
So what did they find? First, population density is very important.
Jacobs said that the higher the population density, the “more likely you are to run into someone on the street who is going to vote Democratic. Once you leave the dense enclaves, even in small cities like Waterville or Portland, Right away, , or New York City… more likely to vote Republican.”
In their research, Shea and Jacobs discovered what they called a “common destiny” that was much stronger in rural areas than in cities and suburbs. “Rural voters tend to think not just about their own well-being, but also about the well-being of their communities,” Shea said. “They are very concerned about the well-being of their neighbors.”
A question pollsters often ask voters is, “Is this country headed in the right direction?” I showed it to Shea and Jacobs.
“I’m the optimist on the writing team,” Shea said with a smile. “I think there are some issues, but I hope things are going smoothly.”
To be sure, Mr. Jacobs’ outlook is not very bright. “I don’t think anyone has a solution to overcome these divides, but I don’t think it’s going to be a single solution. [both] The promise and the complication is that collective action will be required. No politician will be able to resolve the rift by getting elected. ”
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