What’s the Matter with Kansas? The Long-run Effects of the American Dust Bowl

• In Event: Peripheral Politics, Central Problems: Local Politics in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

In urbanized societies like the United States, rural voters tend to support right-wing parties despite low income levels that would ordinarily dictate support for the left. Common explanations for the “Kansas” paradox point to the cultural conservatism of rural voters. This paper instead traces the left-right political orientation of rural voters to the structure of the agricultural sector. Large-scale (as opposed to smallholder) agriculture generates support for right-wing parties because farmers in sparsely populated areas benefit more from productive subsidies than from traditional redistributive policies. To test the argument, this paper exploits the American Dustbowl, a series of dust storms during the 1930s which depopulated the Great Plains and encouraged a shift toward large-scale farming, as a historical natural experiment. The findings highlight the centrality of agricultural structure, originating in past ecological and technological shocks, in shaping the political orientation of the rural sector and contemporary political geography.

Author

• Aditya Dasgupta, University of California, Merced