Three Regions: A Comparative Analysis

In my research, I examined three unique states, Vermont, Georgia, and Wyoming. These three states have a high propensity since 1980 to vote for Governors of a different party than the preferred Presidential candidate in those states. Georgia and Wyoming are reliably Republican states at the federal level while Vermont has voted for the Democratic nominee every year since 1988 and has a track record as perhaps the nation’s most liberal state. Nonetheless, all three voters in all three states have expressed a willingness to support governors of both parties. Additionally, Vermont, Georgia, and Wyoming come from three different political cultures according to famed political scientist Daniel Elazar (Elazar, 1972). Vermont is home to a moralistic political culture where the public is actively encouraged to be involved in political decision-making. Georgia has a traditionalistic culture where government works to uphold the established social hierarchy and Wyoming has an individualistic political culture where government is hands off and only there to support the market (Elazar, 1972). Whether these assessments are totally accurate is up to one’s judgment, but regardless these three states serve as unique case studies to help give insight into the forces working for and against political polarization at the state level. I examined those three states along the dimensions of timing, state ideology, and personality politics. …show more content…
Therefore, it may be easier to tease out the election timing thesis, because voters elect governors in both high turnout presidential election years and low turnout midterm elections. Vermont is also unique, because it has transformed from a reliably red state to one of the bluest states in the nation (on the Presidential level). Most states with that level of shift have been Southern states moving in the opposite