Defining Dixie: A State-Level Measure of the Modern Political South

Abstract

<jats:p>Despite volumes of research, there is little agreement on which states to include in the modern political South. In this paper, we analyze state-level demographic, political, public opinion, and policy outcome data to evaluate the distinctiveness of the eleven states of the old Confederacy. Next, we combine the public opinion and policy outcomes unique to the old Confederacy states to create an index of political southernness. Our scale of southernness suggests that the traditional definitions of the region need to be reevaluated. For example, we find that Oklahoma and Kentucky score high on our scale, while Tennessee, Virginia, and especially Texas are much less politically southern.</jats:p>

Poverty, Race, and the Contexts of Achievement: Examining Educational Experiences of Children in the U.S. South

“…These goals are reflected in the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, and the high stakes this legislation attaches to educational achievement. Achieving educational excellence among all student groups is easier mandated than it is accomplished-particularly given a strong southern conservatism that manifests itself in a minimalist social safety net (Fram, Miller-Cribbs, & Farber, 2006), general lack of support for pubhc programs (Cooper & Knotts, 2004), and growing political pressure for school vouchers or similar mechanisms to allow privileged families to opt out of a public school system (South Carolinians for Responsible Government, n.d.). Social workers-both those working in schools and those concerned with issues of social justice and child well-being more broadly-must confront these multiple challenges to serve vulnerable children who are likely to struggle in school.The present research aims at exploring the contexts of educational achievement in the South, considering issues of race and socioeconomic status, as well as the family, classroom, and school factors that may influence learning.…”

Chicks Aren’t Chickens

“…As Lopoo (2005) noted, the South has unusually high rates of early childbearing and Southern young mothers are at a greater economic and educational disadvantage than are young mothers anywhere else in this country. And although we do not fully develop the argument for this article, we suggest that marginal marriage is also encouraged as poor women navigate daily life in a local culture that has highly traditional social norms and that is tolerant of higher levels of both violence and religiosity (Cash, 1941;Cooper & Knotts, 2004;Gastil, 1975;Nisbett & Cohen, 1996;Pew Research Center, 2003a, 2003bRice, McLean, & Larsen, 2002).…”

“…Past research has shown that the South, in general, is less supportive of governmental programs than are others areas of the country (Cooper & Knotts, 2004;Edin & Lein, 1998). A subsequent lack of capacity within governmental programs makes these programs less effective in improving people's lives, and inadequate funding has become both the cause and the effect of this lack of capacity.…”

Explaining Welfare Benefits in the South: A Regional Analysis

“…Of course, we should add the caveat that ideology is measured by a simple question asking respondents to classify themselves as liberals, moderates, or conservatives. A more sophisticated and more accurate measure would use responses to a set of specific policy issues, an approach used by Cooper and Knotts (2004), but it is not possible to construct such a measure over time from the exit poll data, as these polls do not include a consistent set of issue items across the years.…”

“…If the southern states truly are more conservative, then we might assume that this would be represented in their public policies (Cooper and Knotts 2004). We chose four policies to examine: the progressivity of state and local taxes, total state and local government spending per capita, spending per student on public education, and welfare spending per capita.…”