American Political Ideology
Critical Analysis
According to the data from the map, what is the predominant political ideology of your state?
Identify two geographical trends you see in the map.
Explain why some states are very conservative (Alabama) while others are very liberal (Massachusetts).
What is one general consequence of having such an ideologically varied country?
Because Alabama and Massachusetts are very ideologically different, describe different policies those states have made.
Overall, would you say that the US is more liberal, conservative, or moderate?
One thing that is certain is change. How different do you think this map will look in 20 years?
Explain whether COVID-19 will have a bigger impact on conservative states or liberal states.
The United States is a very large republic. Political thinkers, worried about the problem of size, have long advocated small republics. Plato and Aristotle admired the city-state because they thought reason and virtue could prevail only when a polis was small enough that citizens could be acquaintances. Montesquieu, the 18th-century French political philosopher, picked up where the ancient Greeks left off, arguing for the benefits of small territories. “In a large republic,” he wrote, “the common good is sacrificed to a thousand considerations,” whereas in a smaller one the common good “is more strongly felt, better known, and closer to each citizen.” The framers of the United States Constitution were keenly aware of these arguments. As the political scientists Robert Dahl and Edward Tufte noted in their 1973 book, “Size and Democracy,” the framers embraced federalism partly because they thought that states were closer in scale to the classical ideal. Ultimately, however, a counterargument advanced by James Madison won the day: Larger republics better protected democracy, he claimed, because their natural political diversity made it difficult for any supersized faction to form and dominate. Based on the fact that the U.S. is such a large country and that American states have very different political ideology, explain whether you think the U.S. would be more effectively governed by the current U.S. Constitution or by the Articles of Confederation.
Of all the states, which do you think is the most liberal and the most conservative?*
Learning Extension
Check out this article on Gallup's top ten most conservative and liberal states, along with rankings below:
Action Extension
Research the political ideology of the US Senators and US House members from your state. Share what you learned about their ideology online or in class.
