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"It's an open secret that voters in smaller, less populous states have more electoral power than their urban counterparts, so why are these same voters the most eager to leave behind democratic principles? In this book, political scientists Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why, with all of this extra influence, these same voters fail to see real benefits, for instance suffering worse health and education outcomes than larger states, and why they are the most likely to rage against the democratic project the moment elections stop going their way. This is the patriotic paradox of rural America: The rural citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are least likely to defend core American principles, even when the system itself is set up in their favor. If the commitment to American democracy of this exalted minority crumbles, can the US itself survive? Thanks to the extra weight smaller states enjoy, the past two Republican presidents entered the White House despite losing the popular vote. Senate malapportionment is even worse. By 2040, just 30 percent of the population, concentrated in smaller and more rural states, will elect 70 senators. This skewed dynamic is already changing policy outcomes--scuttling nationally popular bills in the Senate and distorting the balance of the courts--but there's a puzzling contradiction inherent in this rural privilege. Voters there believe the nation has failed them, and to some degree, they're right. With on-the-ground reporting from five very different rural counties spread across the country, this book offers unique insights into how the struggles and resentments of rural people ripple out to determine the kind of country we all live in. Schaller and Waldman critique the structures in place that have led to this imbalance, but they also provocatively criticize rural voters and states themselves for the choices they've made on behalf of themselves and the country. And, they point the way toward a political reimagining that would not only offer a better future for rural people, but make it possible for rural America to stop dragging the rest of the country down"--… (more)
While it misses some points, this books pretty clearly lays out why someone like Trump appeals to rural America. What it doesn't do is lay out any proposed solution outside of rants against the electoral college and gerrymandering. Statistically and demographically accurate, useless politically. This book is what you get when two coastal sociologists travel the heartland - it would have been a better book, I think, if they'd actually lived here for a decade or two. Once again my urge to write my own analysis has been stirred. Perhaps someday ... ( )
“Friend, Jason Aldean recorded a song praising small-town values, and the Radical Left has canceled him for it.” [beginning of an email from the National Republican Congressional Committee in July 2023] -Prologue: Small Towns, Big Trouble
When we visited Truman Chafin in his law office in Williamson, West Virginia, he regaled us with stories of the colorful and obviously guilty clients he had successfully defended over the years, then insisted we pose for a picture inside the jail cell, our hands gripping the bars as though we were small-time thieves nabbed by the sheriff. The former Democratic majority leader of the state senate, Chafin shares a sprawling suite with his wife, Letitia, herself a prominent attorney in the state, inside what used to be the courthouse. The cell is now used as a kitchen. -Chapter 1: Essential Minority, Existential Threat
Quotations
Were rural white Americans as disempowered as they believe themselves to be, their anger would be impotent. (pg 4)
The devastating force of late-stage capitalism has inflicted enormous damage on rural Americans. (pg 5)
Last words
Given these data limitations, the actual threat emanating from rural White corners of the nation is surely more dire than we depict in our book's findings and warnings.
"It's an open secret that voters in smaller, less populous states have more electoral power than their urban counterparts, so why are these same voters the most eager to leave behind democratic principles? In this book, political scientists Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why, with all of this extra influence, these same voters fail to see real benefits, for instance suffering worse health and education outcomes than larger states, and why they are the most likely to rage against the democratic project the moment elections stop going their way. This is the patriotic paradox of rural America: The rural citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are least likely to defend core American principles, even when the system itself is set up in their favor. If the commitment to American democracy of this exalted minority crumbles, can the US itself survive? Thanks to the extra weight smaller states enjoy, the past two Republican presidents entered the White House despite losing the popular vote. Senate malapportionment is even worse. By 2040, just 30 percent of the population, concentrated in smaller and more rural states, will elect 70 senators. This skewed dynamic is already changing policy outcomes--scuttling nationally popular bills in the Senate and distorting the balance of the courts--but there's a puzzling contradiction inherent in this rural privilege. Voters there believe the nation has failed them, and to some degree, they're right. With on-the-ground reporting from five very different rural counties spread across the country, this book offers unique insights into how the struggles and resentments of rural people ripple out to determine the kind of country we all live in. Schaller and Waldman critique the structures in place that have led to this imbalance, but they also provocatively criticize rural voters and states themselves for the choices they've made on behalf of themselves and the country. And, they point the way toward a political reimagining that would not only offer a better future for rural people, but make it possible for rural America to stop dragging the rest of the country down"--
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