Members of which major American political party are wealthier on average?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
According to the visual above what is the wealthiest U.S. House district in the U.S.?
According to the visual above what is the least wealthy U.S. House district in the U.S.?
According to the visual above, what is the U.S. median household income?
Nine of the top 10 wealthiest congressional districts are represented by Democrats, while Republicans now represent most of the poorer half of the country, according to median income data provided by Rep. Marcy Kaptur's (D-Ohio) office. Based on the visual above, as median income of U.S. congressional district goes up, which party tends to win?
Why do you think that is?
Identify one policy that Democrats support that appeals to high income voters and one policy that Republicans support that appeals to low income voters.
Consider the curious case of New Jersey in 1916: That summer, there was a string of deadly shark attacks along the Jersey Shore. As a result, Woodrow Wilson lost his home state in the presidential election. Why, you ask? Because the beachfront towns (which rely on tourism) were negatively impacted by the attacks. Though Wilson wasn’t responsible for the hungry sharks, he was the incumbent, and people vote against incumbents when things are bad. This is a story political scientists Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels tell in Democracy for Realists, in service of a sobering thesis: Voters don’t have anything like coherent preferences. Most people pay little attention to politics; when they vote, if they vote at all, they do so irrationally and for contradictory reasons. The reason is simple: Most people make political decisions on the basis of social identities and partisan loyalties, not an honest examination of reality. “Election outcomes,” Achen and Bartels conclude, “turn out to be largely random events from the viewpoint of democratic theory.” Do you think most voters vote choose a party because of policy?
Based on the visual above, do more districts tend to be competitive (these would be clustered around the middle of the x axis where the margin of victory is close to 0) or landslides (these would be clustered towards either end of the x axis where the margin of victory is close to + 100)?
The last several decades have ushered in a dramatic political realignment, as the GOP has broadened its appeal to a more diverse working class and Democrats have become the party of wealthier, more-educated voters. Today, 64% of congressional districts with median incomes below the national median are now represented by Republicans — a shift in historical party demographics, the data shows. Make a claim about what factors you think are driving this shift.
Wealthier voters tend to vote more than poorer voters (see below)*. How do you think the data from the visual above will impact the 2024 presidential campaign?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Take the I Side With presidential quiz to see how well your policy preferences and candidate preferences align. Share your I Side With outcome with your family. You can also use this Census Bureau data tool to learn more about your congressional district. (See below)
Get Creative
If Republicans were a kind of sport what type of sport would they be? And if Democrats were a type of sport what kind of sport would they be?
Learn More
Check out the short sharp Axios exploration of wealth and voting and the visual below*.
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