Kruse Kronicle

Three Political Landscape Maps

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by

mwkruse
in , ,

You've undoubtedly seen a map similar to the one below showing the breakdown of party control by congressional district.

NYT House map
Closer analysis will reveal that Democrats are big in Urban districts and Republicans more in rural and suburban areas. The Economist article, from which this map (and the two following) came, says:

Run down the top 30 incorporated places in America; the only ones represented by Republicans are Fort Worth, Texas and (as of January) Columbus, Ohio. Every other major city in Texas, and in fact every other major city in the South, is represented mainly by Democrats.

But then it shows two other electoral maps … one for Germany and one for France:

Spiegel 2005 map

France 2007
There isn't the same sort of urban/rural dynamic at work. So why is there such a difference? The Economist doesn't explain, and I don't really know either. What do you think?

 

Comments

5 responses to “Three Political Landscape Maps”

  1. codepoke Avatar
    codepoke

    Europe is post-Christian, no? And there really isn’t a Christian party in Europe (so far as I know, the Christian Democrats really aren’t, but I could sure be wrong.) The idea is at least plausible as an explanation, because religious commitment causes unusual patterns.

    Reply
  2. Michael W. Kruse Avatar
    Michael W. Kruse

    Codepoke, is your thought that cities would be more secular? Reps (more religious) do well outside the cities while Dems (more secular) do better in cities?

    Reply
  3. ceemac Avatar
    ceemac

    Perhaps there is more of an organic connection between Cities in France and Germany and the surrounding countryside. Maybe dating back to the time that folks in the countryside looked to the Lord in the castle (city) for protection. And of course the Lord in the castle owned or controlled the surrounding land.

    Reply
  4. ceemac Avatar
    ceemac

    And in Germany it looks like the East-West divide is still there.

    Reply
  5. Dana Ames Avatar
    Dana Ames

    Well, for Germany the lines still fall more or less along the Catholic/Protestant geographic difference. More folks in the south and along the Rhine tend to identify as Catholic, and the CDU started out as very much a southern, Catholic-oriented party. The SPD has been more the party of people who identify as Protestant, and/or, up until recently at least, the better educated and less isolated.
    In spite of Europe being “post Christian”, tribal/cultural identities remain.
    Dana

    Reply

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