Mapping the Genome of American Political Subcultures: A Proposed Methodology and Pilot Study

The landmark work of Daniel Elazar spawned a generation of research suggesting that regional subcultures produce consequences for political behavior, governance, and representation across the United States. However, little attention has been paid to directly measuring the degree to which citizens living in particular communities actually share particular value orientations that differ markedly from those of citizens living in other communities and whether such differences are consistent with Elazar's theory. This article proposes a research program devoted to these questions, offers a methodology designed to address them, and describes a pilot study to that effect. Although Elazar's framework stands up to empirical scrutiny in some important respects, a thorough reexamination is in order. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.