Patchwork Nation: Sectionalism and Political Change in American Politics

The unprecedented geographic and socioeconomic mobility of twentieth-century America was accompanied by a major reshuffling of political support in many parts of the country. Yet at the dawn of the new century these local and regional movements are still poorly understood. How can we account for persistent political regionalism and the sectional changes that have radically altered the nation’s political landscape, from the Sun Belt to the Rust Belt? Patchwork Nation retrieves this lost knowledge, restoring geography to its central role in our nation’s political behavior. A primer on the importance of regional identity in the electoral system. … [A]nyone interested in learning more about how America’s diversity drives its political systems would do well to take a spin through Patchwork Nation. —Meg Kinnard, NationalJournal.com

Location, location, location. What matters in politics is not just who the voters are, but where they are. Just ask Al Gore. Or read this book, a compelling demonstration that geography is often destiny. —Bill Schneider, Senior Political Analyst, CNN

This accessible and well-written book challenges us to reflect on the role that political context plays in shaping the vote. By tracing how regional politics evolves over time within and across states, Gimpel and Schuknecht have revived the important but often neglected field of political geography. —Donald Green, Yale University

In the spirit of V. O. Key, Gimpel and Schuknecht make a fundamental contribution. They demonstrate that states and regions are not simply important as units of aggregation, but rather as complex political arenas with profound consequences for processes of democratic politics both within and beyond their boundaries. —Robert Huckfeldt, University of California, Davis