States are characterized by tremendous economic, social, demographic and political diversity which structures state governments’ problems and affect their ability to deal with them. The purpose of this assignment is to develop an understanding of how your states’ demographics shape their political challengs and affect its policies. Your presentation should have 2 parts. The first part (5 minutes) should describe the most important demographic, socioeconomic, political culture and other factors in your states. The second part should examine whether these factors affect policy outcomes.
Demographic Changes
-Are your states growing faster or slower than the national average?
-Are they large or small states compared to the national average?
-Are they urban or rural? See Urban and Rural Population by State- http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/08s0029.xls
2008 Census Population Estimate for states- http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/population/estimates_and_projectionsstates_metropolitan_areas_cities.html
% in Manufacturing 2006- http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank26.xls
Political Culture See attached excel file or go to http://academic.regis.edu/jriley/421elazar.htm
Religion - http://religions.pewforum.org/maps
Policy Analysis
Make a series of hypothesis about how any 2 or 3 of the variables above affect a policy outcome. You can find data on
Policy Outcomes
1. State spending and ranking on education - http://www.nea.org/edstats/images/04rankings-update.pdf
2. % of women and children uninsured- http://www.marchofdimes.com/CensusData.pdf
3. Attached is an
excel file with data on 4 sets of policy outcomes.
The data has the national average, state average, as well as state
rank (1-50).
You are free (and encouraged) to find alternative data.
What is the impact of income, diversity, economic structure, and political culture on education spending, health care coverage, the death penalty or any other factor.