I read that Morris Fiorina will discuss the culture war in America this Sun at 5:15pm on C-SPAN. He may talk about Red/Blue states.
Culture War?: The Myth of a Polarized America by Morris Fiorina
Description: Morris Fiorina challenges the idea that there is a culture war taking place in America. Mr. Fiorina argues that while both political parties and pundits the country is constantly present the country as being divided, the reality is that most people hold middle-of-the-road views on almost all of the major issues. The talk was hosted by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
Author Bio: Morris Fiorina is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor of political science at Stanford University. His books include “The New American Democracy” and “The Personal Vote: Constituency Service and Electoral Independence.”
Publisher: Pearson Longman 1185 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036
Boris commented:
It's not on the CSPAN web site as far as I can see.
http://www.booknotes.org/home/index.asp
David K. Park commented:
you can watch it here:
http://www.uncommonknowledge.org/900/901.html
David commented:
The more i read, and look at the data I'm not convinced that's it's an aggregation problem. More recently, I think the red states have become more Rep and blue states are more Dem (irregardless of income). As our data shows, income has become less important. We don't show this, but others have written that this other dimension (we can call it social, etc) is becoming more dominant. Still trying to figure out how this fits in w/McCarty's income inequality and Bartels increasing partisanship.
Bafumi commented:
Maybe The Stubborn American Voter brings it all together…sorry about the cheap plug but I couldn't resist.
David K. Park commented:
I think Fiorina would disagree w/the Stubborn American voter hypothesis. He makes the argument that while the elite is highly polarized, the electorate as a whole is quite moderate – even on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc. It is true, while the small percentage of strong leaners (in either party) are stubborn, the vast majority are thoughtful and moderate. Something to think about…
Joe Bafumi commented:
I'm just about done reading his book. Much of his empirical evidence
bolsters my theories on abortion, homosexuality, religiosity and
partisanship. I think he's presenting a different story and misses some of
the most interesting elements of the data he's presenting (although he gets
it right on with religiosity) so he would disagree at face with my work.
However, the paper provides evidence of what you said about the growing
importance on social issues (it's just not so much by red and blue
states…it's by party affiliation).
Boris S. commented:
Move this discussion to the forums!
http://www.bshor.com/phpBB2
Andrew commented:
Actually, for a discussion at this level I'd prefer to keep it on the blog. The bulletin board is appropriate for more specific discussions of what we are doing with particular paper or analysis of ours. For the discussion here, the blog is better, since it is of general interest.