The Rural Voter

In this important book, two political scientists—rural themselves—set the record straight on the rural voter. Based on a massive voter survey stretching from 1824 to 2020, Nicholas F. Jacobs and Daniel M. Shea carefully puzzle over reasons so many rural Americans now despair of the Democratic Party and even see it as the enemy. They add to this a brilliant analysis of Hollywood’s view of rural Americans, shifting from quaint to backward to menacing and beyond. If you live in the city, read this book. -- Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of <i>Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right</i> The thing that stands out the most is the way Jacobs and Shea examine and often dismantle long-standing stereotypes and conventional media narratives with empathy. The data and historical research are rigorous and important, but the nuance and curiosity the authors bring to the table are The Rural Voter’s special sauce. -- Amy Walter, publisher and editor in chief of <i>The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter</i> Forget what you think you know about rural politics in the United States. With high-quality data and careful analysis, Jacobs and Shea demonstrate that rural voters are not particularly down-and-out or fired up by religion, racism, conservative media, and ideology. Instead, rural economic and civic struggles, which are not unique, have generated a sense of place-based grievance that reflects rural voters' beliefs about the value of rural life and a linked fate as rural residents. -- Douglas D. Roscoe, author of <i>The Promise of Democratic Equality in the United States</i> It’s a rare book on American politics that has a sense of place. The authors, who hail from rural communities and know their neighbors, show that “geography matters”—but not at all in the ways our stereotyped notions of rural (and urban) tell us. -- Bill Bishop, author of <i> The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart</i> This book contains what surely must be the most comprehensive study of rural voters ever produced. Based largely on a massive new database, Jacobs and Shea’s analyses provide a treasure trove of new findings and along the way modify or overturn a number of popular generalizations about urban versus rural voters. -- Morris P. Fiorina, author of <i>Unstable Majorities: Polarization, Party Sorting, and Political Stalemate</i> For those seeking a comprehensive, thoroughly researched volume about rural voters with original data and insightful analysis, stop looking. The Rural Voter provides an unbiased account of rural voters that does not fall prey to partisan stereotypes. I have little doubt this pathbreaking book will reshape our understanding of a key change in American politics. -- Joanne Connor Green, author of <i>Government and Politics in the Lone Star State</i>