Geographic Distribution of Libs/Cons (U.S.)

Factual Questions
1

A glance at any of those red/blue election maps illustrates the phenomenon that liberals seem to be most numerous on the east and west coasts (especially the northeast and northwest), while conservatives seem to concentrate in the center and southeast of the country.

Disclaimer #1: I know there’s some overlap between the more conservative (they would say moderate) Dems and more liberal (they would say moderate) Pubs, but in terms of general tendencies Dem~lib and Pub~con.

Disclaimer #2: I know there are some anomalies, especially where there are big cities. Hell, I lived the last 7 years in Utah, the state that voted most overwhelmingly for GWB in 2002, and I’m pretty liberal. The general tendencies are pretty consistent, though.

I have two questions:

  1. What are some possible explanations for this distribution?

  2. Does this phenomenon occur in other countries (single countries, not like N&S Korea)? Are people from, say, eastern Turkey a bunch of capitalist pigs compared to their comrades from western Turkey?

I don’t really want this thread to degenerate into insults (and I’ll probably kill the thread if it does). I’m just curious about the origins/reasons for this.

2

I think the distribution tends to be a lot more rural-urban than regional. It’s just that, generally, the east and west coasts tend to be more urbanized than the center of the country, and the northeast tends to be more urbanized than the southeast.

3

Have you looked at one of the red/blue maps by county? It makes a lot more sense that way.

4

Thie might be of interest.

In the UK, there’s a very clear divide. Labour’s support has always been in urban areas, which dates back to the rise of socialism within the industrial working-class. Tory support is much stronger in rural areas. Looking at this map of th 2005 election, you wouldn’t think that the red Labour constituencies gave the party a large majority, until you zoom into London and the northern cities.

5

Utterly fascinating. Thank you.