The Great Divide: The Political Implications of Southern Regional Identification in Kentucky

Authors

Joel Turner, Western Kentucky UniversityFollow

Abstract

Kentucky occupies a unique place on the American political landscape. The Commonwealth has never been fully embraced as Southern by most observers, but at the same time it is not necessarily a Northern state. As the intersection of North and South in the United States, Kentucky presentes a unique opportunity to study the impact of regional identity on public opinion. Utilizing data from a 2014 survey of a random sample of Kentucky residents, we are able to demonstrate that Southern regional identification is fairly high in Kentucky, and that this identification has a significant influence on opinion regard politicians and policy preferences in Kentucky.

Recommended Citation

Turner, Joel (2017) "The Great Divide: The Political Implications of Southern Regional Identification in Kentucky," Commonwealth Review of Political Science: Vol. 4: No. 1, Article 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61611/2994-0044.1023
Available at: https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/crps/vol4/iss1/1