Volume 1Labels, sorting and partisan feeling

Party identification and ideological labels drew closer together in American surveys. The volume asks what the labels contain, in the United States and about 100 countries, how the alignment changed across birth cohorts, and how it differs from partisans' feelings toward the other party.

Volume 2Coalitions and political differences

Participation, group coalitions, issues and attitudes toward institutions and democracy, 1948 to 2024. Party gaps on these measures differ in size and timing, and some reverse with control of the presidency, so no single trend describes them.

Volume 3Votes, giving and places

Election returns, donor records and county data count different populations at different scales. The volume follows the vote from counties to precincts and down the ballot, compares donors with voters, and returns from places to the people who live in them.

Reading path

The South

5 chapters in reading order. A path is a way through the book that follows one question; every chapter also stands alone.

1
The South
Planned in Part III, Participation and coalitions
Which political gaps between the South and the rest of the country closed, and which persisted?
PlannedIndividualsanesgsscounty-returns
2
Distance from the national vote, 1868 to 2024
Chapter 6.2 in Part VI, Election results at different scales
The share of two-party votes cast in counties at least 20 points from the national margin rose from 25.5% in 1976 to 56.5% in 2024.
DraftPlacescounty-returns
3
Reconstruction and the modern map
Planned in Part VI, Election results at different scales
How does the Southern county map of the 1870s relate to the map of 2024?
PlannedPlacescounty-returnscounty-demographics
4
Rural counties
Planned in Part VIII, Places and the people in them
How different are white-majority rural counties from Black Belt and Hispanic rural counties?
PlannedPlacescounty-returnscounty-demographics
5
Partisans in the other party's territory
Planned in Part VIII, Places and the people in them
Where do Democrats and Republicans live in counties their party lost, and do these voters and donors differ from aligned partisans?
PlannedIndividualscescounty-returnsdime

All chapters