What Rural Voters Think: A Conversation with Nick Jacobs

Hardly Working with Brent Orrell

Divides between rural and urban America have their roots in longstanding demographic, economic, technological, and social factors. In a new event series, AEI’s Brent Orrell and the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa are hosting a series of conversations “On the Front Porch” with authors of recent research on issues facing rural America.

These discussions explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing rural America and consider policy options to promote development and opportunity. Today on Hardly Working, we bring you the first of these events, a conversation with Nicholas F. Jacobs, the author of the recent book The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America, which examines the state of politics in rural America.

Orrell, Pipa, and Jacobs consider the book’s central claim that rural Americans have in recent years combined a deep sense of connection to place with increasingly nationalized policy and political concerns to form a distinct voting bloc. They also discuss the history of rural America; the social, cultural, and economic forces that have affected it in recent years; and the popular notion of a stark rural-urban divide. Overall, they emphasize the importance of dispelling myths about rural America to overcome distrust and disunity.

Mentioned in this Episode

Reimagining Rural Policy Initiative

General Social Survey

Omaha Platform of 1892

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

Federalism

American Exchange Project