A Shrinking Rural Population and the Future of the American Political and Economic Systems

Chelsea N Kaufman, Purdue University

Abstract

In recent decades, the size of the rural population in the United States, as in most advanced industrialized countries, has been decreasing. Past research has examined political attitudes and behaviors in rural America, but has not considered whether overtime variation in these attitudes and behaviors might be a function of rural population loss and its associated economic consequences. As rural areas shrink, they may lose economic and political power, leading to a decrease in political efficacy and trust. Additionally, as rural areas face decline, partisanship and vote choice patterns may shift as rural areas have new policy demands. Together, these changes in attitudes may affect participation patterns, as rural-urban polarization may lead to an increase in participation, or the increased alienation of rural citizens may lead to them choosing not to participate. At the same time, it must be considered that the findings on the economic consequences of rural population loss have been mixed- some rural areas are experiencing decline, while others have been able to adjust to the changing circumstances and improve their conditions. Given these mixed findings, is the relationship between rural population loss and political attitudes and behaviors uniform, or does it depend on the economic context? Additionally, if these patterns vary based on economic circumstance, it calls into question many of the policies that have been put into place in order to address this phenomenon, which tend to be put in place at the state or national level and persist even when research has shown numerous times they are largely ineffective. Using data from the Census Bureau, the US Department of Agriculture, the American National Election Studies, as well as a case study, I examine these questions and discuss the implications of the conclusions for the future of the American political and economic systems.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Parker, Purdue University.

Subject Area

American studies|Regional Studies|Political science

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