Collectively Voting One's Culture Laura L.L. Blevins Thesis Submitted
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Collectively Voting One's Culture Laura L.L. Blevins Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Political Science Scott G. Nelson Timothy W. Luke Luke P. Plotica December 13, 2017 Blacksburg, VA Keywords: Southwest Virginia, political behavior, culture Copyright 2017 Laura L. L. Blevins Collectively Voting One’s Culture Laura L. L. Blevins ABSTRACT This thesis considers theoretically the institutional nature of culture and its strength as a determinant of political behavior in Southwest Virginia. Beginning with a description of the geography of Southwest Virginia and the demographics of the region’s inhabitants, the thesis proceeds to outline the cultural nuances of the region that make it ripe for misunderstanding by the outside world when attempting to explain the cognitive dissonance between voting behavior and regional needs. Then the thesis explores how the culture of the region serves as its own institution that protects itself from outside forces. This phenomenon is explained through an outline of the man-made institutions which have been forged to ensure long-term political power that itself protects the institution of regional culture. Further evidence is presented through voting and demographic data that solidifies the role of culture in determining political behavior. Collectively Voting One’s Culture Laura L. L. Blevins GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT This thesis considers the role culture plays in the voting behavior of Southwest Virginians. Beginning with a description of the geography of Southwest Virginia and the demographics of the region’s residents, the thesis proceeds to outline the cultural nuances of the region that make it ripe for misunderstanding by the outside world when attempting to explain the tendency of the region’s voters voting against their own best interests. Then the thesis explores how the culture of the region serves as its own institution that protects itself from outside forces. This phenomenon is explained through an outline of the man-made institutions which have been forged to ensure long-term political power that itself protects the institution of regional culture. Further evidence is presented through voting and demographic data that solidifies the role of culture in determining political behavior. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to Dr. Nelson, Dr. Luke and Dr. Plotica for their patience as I slowly completed this thesis. I also appreciate Karen Nicholson for helping to keep me on track throughout the graduate school experience. Dr. Nelson inspired the theme for my thesis by telling me that I should write what I know. What I know I learned at the hands of a number of great political teachers: my first political teacher, Beth Pless, who was actually my high school Latin teacher who noted my passion for politics and connected me with the Washington County Democratic Women’s Club before I was old enough to vote; Becky Coleman and Linda DiYorio with whom I worked in Congressman Boucher’s office are true friends who for decades have provided great political insight about the people and culture of Southwest Virginia; my friend and former co-worker Derek Lyall deserves special recognition as he has kept my research in mind and has often sent me citations of good articles that have made their way into this work. My sister, Michele Duncan, has served as inspiration (being old, but not too old to go back to school), and has also served as Ms. Grammarian. I am thankful for always having an English teacher close at-hand. I have been particularly blessed to work for two great statesmen, former U. S. Congressman Rick Boucher and U. S. Senator Tim Kaine. Because of them, I have a deeper appreciation for our American government. Thank you to Larry Blevins, brother-in-law extraordinaire, he like Derek, supported my graduate school efforts with tidbits of political analysis that he wanted to make sure I had reviewed. My dear husband, Rick, who has spent evenings and weekends wondering the reason he married an absent wife, is deserving of a medal. I promise to clean off the dining room table of articles, news clips, and library books as soon as this is over. Lastly, I honor my late father, Gene Lee, who taught my sister and me that higher education is a prized possession. Dear dad flunked out of Virginia Tech, so this one is for him. iv Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 Hypothesis ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Literature Review ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Defining and Describing Southwest Virginia ........................................................................................... 5 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 16 Thesis Layout .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2 The Theory .............................................................................................................................. 19 The Institutions ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 3 Election Outcomes and Demographics ................................................................................. 36 Election Results (House of Delegates) .................................................................................................... 36 Election Results (State Senate) ............................................................................................................... 39 Election Results (Governor) .................................................................................................................... 41 Election Results (U. S. President) ........................................................................................................... 42 Election Results (U. S. Senate) ............................................................................................................... 43 Election Results (U. S. House of Representatives) ................................................................................. 44 Southwest Virginia Economy ................................................................................................................. 47 Southwest Virginia Culture vs. National Culture ................................................................................... 53 Chapter 4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 56 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 66 v CHAPTER 1 Introduction Hypothesis Rural areas of the United States are regularly recognized as places where the majority of voters support candidates who do not support the programs and services that are most beneficial to the financial interests of the voters. It is often noted that states with citizens who receive a relatively high percentage of public assistance overwhelmingly vote Republican1. This phenomenon would provide evidence of economic dissonance. If voters are not motivated by their pocketbook, what does motivate them? If it is not the financial benefit that the majority of voters believe they will receive by voting against their financial interests, then there must be another factor. This thesis will consider whether culture is itself a structure that acts to influence the voting collective and serves as a determinant of voters' political preferences. This phenomenon will be explored through a review of the changing political tide of Southwest Virginia from the 2004 Presidential and Congressional elections to the 2012 Congressional and Presidential elections and then the thesis is further solidified through an overview of the 2016 Presidential election and the 2017 Gubernatorial election. The question to be studied is: why have the culturally rich, historically poor, and educationally lacking people of Southwest Virginia moved away from supporting political actors that benefit the voters’ own economic interests, and why do they now appear to be supporting political actors that are at odds with what would seem to be very much in their economic interests? For the purpose of this thesis, the working definition of culture is adopted from Hunter, 1 Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter with Kansas (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004). 1 who writes: “Culture is nothing if it is not first and foremost, a normative order by which we comprehend ourselves, others, and the larger world and through which we order our experience.”2 Culture is more than language, food, religion, music or dress as those preferences or differences do not by themselves explain actions, particularly political actions. For further explanation, Redfield writes of cultures as “…conventional understandings, manifest in act and artifact, that characterizes societies. The “understandings are the meanings