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| Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do | 
 enlarge | Authors: Andrew Gelman, David Park, Boris Shor, Joseph Bafumi, Jeronimo Cortina
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $13.97
You Save: $13.98 (50%)
Buy New/Used from $13.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  (10 reviews)
Sales Rank: 19700
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 248
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 069113927X
Dewey Decimal Number: 324.973
EAN: 9780691139272
ASIN: 069113927X
Publication Date: August 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
On the night of the 2000 presidential election, Americans sat riveted in front of their televisions as polling results divided the nation's map into red and blue states. Since then the color divide has become a symbol of a culture war that thrives on stereotypes--pickup-driving red-state Republicans who vote based on God, guns, and gays; and elitist, latte-sipping blue-state Democrats who are woefully out of touch with heartland values. Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State debunks these and other political myths. With wit and prodigious number crunching, Andrew Gelman gets to the bottom of why Democrats win elections in wealthy states while Republicans get the votes of richer voters, how the two parties have become ideologically polarized, and other issues. Gelman uses eye-opening, easy-to-read graphics to unravel the mystifying patterns of recent voting, and in doing so paints a vivid portrait of the regional differences that drive American politics. He demonstrates in the plainest possible terms how the real culture war is being waged among affluent Democrats and Republicans, not between the haves and have-nots; how religion matters for higher-income voters; how the rich-poor divide is greater in red not blue states--and much more. Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State is a must-read for anyone seeking to make sense of today's fractured American political landscape. Myths and facts about the red and the blue: Myth: The rich vote based on economics, the poor vote "God, guns, and gays."
Fact: Church attendance predicts Republican voting much more among rich than poor. Myth: A political divide exists between working-class "red America" and rich "blue America."
Fact: Within any state, more rich people vote Republican. The real divide is between higher-income voters in red and blue states. Myth: Rich people vote for the Democrats.
Fact: George W. Bush won more than 60 percent of high-income voters. Myth: Religion is particularly divisive in American politics.
Fact: Religious and secular voters differ no more in America than in France, Germany, Sweden, and many other European countries.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Not a light read November 10, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This review is really just a warning for those of you out there who, based on this book's catchy title, might think it's another Blink, Nudge, Click, etc. It is most definitely not. There is a LOT of data here, and it's not always discussed in the friendliest fashion possible. Yes, there is tons of interesting stuff, but it's really not very accessible.
The writer's style seems to be one of an academic trying to write a popularization. Lots of stops and starts, lots of digressions, lots of repetition, lots of half-digested material. Flow seemed to be the biggest problem, with the author introducing one chart after another, but with very little feel for identifying an argument and advancing it forward.
Overall, very interesting data, but very poor writing.
 In Depth Exploration of Political Paradox October 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Red State, Blue State" starts with an often under-reported paradox: wealthy states vote Democratic whereas wealthy people vote Republican. It then proceeds to explore this paradox from every angle possible using polling data.
My background is data mining. What impresses me most about "Red State, Blue State" is the way it effectively communicates results in understandable ways, particularly using charts rather than complicated formulas. It is not a book about innuendo, selected examples, or technical bravado. It is a book about effectively communicating the results of innumerable polls and many elections to understand a paradox.
The book is divided into three parts. The first introduces the problem, leading up to a chapter on how pundits -- both on the left and the right -- can be so confused. Chapter 3 introduces the idea of the "ecological fallacy", which is the tendency to take summarized information (say, poor states vote Republican -- which tends to be true) and to apply it to individuals (say poor people vote Republic -- which tends to be false).
The second dives into the issue in more detail, both historically and geographically. It is highly unusual to see authors attempt to apply theories about US politics to other countries. This is a daring approach, since most American readers will not find it relevant.
The final section discusses what it all means, particularly the importance of party stances on economic issues versus social issues.
I do not agree with every conclusion in the book. In particular, I feel that the data provides more support for the Republicans "southern strategy" than the authors do. In addition, there is one area where I believe the book could have gone into more detail, and that is the role of turnout in presidential elections.
Prof. Gelman (who is a renown statistician at Columbia University) and his coauthors do an excellent job exploring the relationships between the outcome of elections and individuals, states, and other geogrphic regions. At just over 200 pages, it is definitely worth reading.
Worth the read, but.... October 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
At a time when we are on the precipice of deciding who will become our next president, Andrew Gelman and his associates have delivered a terrific new book about recent voting patterns, demographics of all sorts and how states and their people vote, vis-a-vis the economy and other issues. It's less of a prediction about what happens next but as an analysis it's worth every page. As a narrative it's a slog.
Challenging a mere red state/blue state divide, the authors provide candor as to how and why we vote. As a resident of Connecticut, that pocket of insularity in the northeast, I was happy that Gelman countered the Thomas Frank book, "What's the Matter with Kansas", substituting Connecticut in its place. Decision-making about voting is a complex matter and the authors do a good job at its explanation. I recommend it but only wish it had been more readable.
Gummy bear vitamins for the politically curious October 16, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is like a bottle of Gummy bear vitamins for the politically curious. The cover and maps look colorful and inviting. The words and charts are made from careful research of election results and polls. They are delightful, but require a bit of time to chew. The insights from the book fortify the mind to better digest the barrage of information and opinions about American voters.
Dr. Gelman introduces many common misconceptions about American voters with funny quotes from famous politicians and pundits. He offers reasons behind these myths and debunks them with clear analyses that are presented in the form of powerful and thought-provoking graphs. I appreciate the large amount of graphs & charts that he includes in the book, because they help the reader to see the logic behind his viewpoints.
To paraphrase Stephen Colbert, "Andrew Gelman knows American voters (and so can we)".
Good nontechnical account October 14, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The subtitle of this book is "Why Americans vote the way they do". It looks primarily at three influences: State and region; income; and religion. Gelman is fully capable of getting as math- and statistics-heavy as anyone. He is, after all, a professor of statistics. But in this book, he takes another path --- he lets all the technical details sit in the background and presents results using a lot of graphs, but minimal mathematics.
He punctures a number of myths.
Perhaps the most famous myth was part of a title of a book "What's the matter with Kansas?" which posited that Kansans vote against their own economic interest because of disagreement with the Democrats o social issues. In fact, wealthier Kansans vote Republican, poorer Kansans vote Democratic. Further, that same pattern (the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to vote Republican) happens in *all* states.
But there's more.
The very first words in the introduction are a quote from Tucker Carlson to the effect that wealthy people, particularly those with incomes over $100,000, vote Democratic. Strictly speaking, Carlson is wrong. Rich people tend to vote Republican (and this trend is more in evidence at incomes below about $100,000 ... that is, people who earn $100,000 are *much* more likely to vote R than those who earn $50,000; peoploe who earn $200,000 are still more likely, but the difference between 200K people and 100K people is smaller than that between 100K and 50K). Gelman is kinder, and calls Carlson 'half right' because rich *states* vote Democratic more than poor states do.
Open the book to almost any page, and you're likely to find something interesting: On page 47, for instance, he compares Southern and non-Southern states and voters over time. Here we learn, e.g., that the gap between rich voters and poor voters in terms of voting Republican has been growing since 1960 (when it was 0), and that it is growing much faster in the South than elsewhere.
On page 84, we learn that, in poorer states, rich people tend to be more religious than poor people (most true in SD, AR, and AL), while in rich states, rich people tend to be *less* religious (most true in NJ and NY)
On page 126, he graphs split ticket voting over time -- it rose from the late 1950s to mid 1970s, peaking at almost 30%, and declined since then -- in 2004 it was a little under 20%.
On page 151 he analyzes how he thinks Kerry and Bush should have shifted their economic positions to maximize their share of the vote.
In short, this is the kind of thought-provoking book that a lot of people here would love. Clearly, this book is for people who like numbers and graphs --- but, again, you do *not* need to know a lot of math to read it, there are no formulas, and the most advanced statistic used is 'correlation'.
Warmly recommended.
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