Southernization

The idea of Southernization came from the observation that "Southern" values and beliefs were becoming more central to political success, reaching an apogee in the 1990s, with a Democratic president and vice-president from the South and Congresional leaders in both parties being from the South. Since President Richard Nixon in the 1970s, the Republican Party had pursued a Southern strategy to appeal to conservative Democratic voters in the South and conservative voters elsewhere. Some commentators observed that Southern values seemed increasingly important in national elections through the early 21st century. American journalists began using the term Southernization in the late 2000s to describe the cultural effects.

Description
Apart from an arguable suspicion toward intellectuals, values and beliefs often ascribed to the American South include religious fundamentalism (i.e., creationism/intelligent design) and patriotism. Besides the cultural influence, some said that the South had infiltrated the national political stage.

In 1992 the winning presidential ticket consisted of the Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton and a Senator from Tennessee, Al Gore. Many leaders in Congress were also from the South, from both parties. Meanwhile the Republican Party underwent its own Southernization as more Republican leaders called for a low-wage, low-tax, low-investment industrial society, principles previously held by conservative southern Democrats. Commentators suggest that politics reached its apogee of Southernization in the 1990s.

Today, the American South has more electoral votes than ever, due to an increase in population. The increasing influence of the region, however, goes beyond that. Liberal commentators said that "Southernism" had gained prominence under the George W. Bush presidency. They accredited many concepts such as frontierism and jingoism, as well as anti-abortion and anti-international trade sentiments to the American South.

Impact of 2008 presidential election
In the presidential election of 2008, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina voted for the Democrat Senator Barack Obama, in decisive majorities reflected by the Democratic vote in many other states. "What may have ended on Election Day, though, is the centrality of the South to national politics. By voting so emphatically for Senator John McCain over Mr. Obama — supporting him in some areas in even greater numbers than they did President Bush — voters from Texas to South Carolina and Kentucky may have marginalized their region for some time to come, political experts say." Given the results of the 2008 presidential election, it appears that the Republican Party has become marginalized as a regional party of southern people. The Southern strategy of the Republican Party has been surpassed by its failures and by changing demographics.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu