The Increasingly United States: How and Why American Political Behavior NationalizedIn a campaign for state or local office these days, you’re as likely today to hear accusations that an opponent advanced Obamacare or supported Donald Trump as you are to hear about issues affecting the state or local community. This is because American political behavior has become substantially more nationalized. American voters are far more engaged with and knowledgeable about what’s happening in Washington, DC, than in similar messages whether they are in the South, the Northeast, or the Midwest. Gone are the days when all politics was local. With The Increasingly United States, Daniel J. Hopkins explores this trend and its implications for the American political system. The change is significant in part because it works against a key rationale of America’s federalist system, which was built on the assumption that citizens would be more strongly attached to their states and localities. It also has profound implications for how voters are represented. If voters are well informed about state politics, for example, the governor has an incentive to deliver what voters—or at least a pivotal segment of them—want. But if voters are likely to back the same party in gubernatorial as in presidential elections irrespective of the governor’s actions in office, governors may instead come to see their ambitions as tethered more closely to their status in the national party. |
Contents
| 1 | |
Chapter 2 Meanings of Nationalization Past and Present | 20 |
Chapter 3 The Nationalization of American Elections19282016 | 36 |
Chapter 4 Staying Home When Its Close to Home | 59 |
Chapter 5 Local Contexts in a Nationalized Age | 88 |
Chapter 6 Explaining Nationalization | 124 |
Chapter 7 E Pluribus Duo | 142 |
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The Increasingly United States: How and Why American Political Behavior ... Daniel J. Hopkins No preview available - 2018 |
The Increasingly United States: How and Why American Political Behavior ... Daniel J. Hopkins No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
American politics analyses asked attachments attention Barack Obama book’s cable television campaign candidates changes chapter Chhibber congressional consider contemporary contextual effects correlation counties county-level coverage decades declining Democratic demographic Donald Trump electoral evidence explain federal system figure Gimpel governor gubernatorial elections gubernatorial voting Hispanic Huey Long identify ideological illustrates important increasingly incumbency individual-level issues legislators levels of government living mayor measure media market media sources midterm Mitt Romney models multilevel model national parties nationalization’s nationalized political behavior nationalized voting newspapers Obama one’s p-value panel partisan identification partisanship party platforms party’s people’s percent percentage points place-based identities political parties politicians president presidential and gubernatorial presidential election prior proximity question races recent relationship relative Republican Party respondents Schickler Senate shift social identities South specific state-level politics state’s Sweet Home Alabama television tion tional today’s topics trends V. O. Key variables vote choices voter turnout