Consequences of Four Types of States

Abstract

Favorable effects enhance human development and well-being. This chapter asks, do the categories of the typology of states have different effects on indicators of macrolevel economic, social, and developmental problems? The South, compared with the balanced states, has less favorable rates indicative economic fairness, generosity to the poor, neglect of children’s health, crime and incarceration, and risks to health, education, and income. The Heartland resembles the South, but its increased equality mitigates the severity of its unfavorable rates. The postindustrial states and the balanced states are rather similar, but the increased inequality of the former exacerbates the economic insecurity of their poor and middle class that is somewhat offset by the generosity and liberalism of these states. For a number of response variables, the following hypothetical relationships hold: When the income equality of a state is held constant as lower, then increased HD decreases the unfavorable response rate more than when the equality of a state is held constant as higher. When the HD of a state is held constant as lower, then increased equality decreases the unfavorable response rate more than when the HD of a state is held constant as higher. Across these macrolevel comparisons increases in HD tend to have larger favorable effects than increases in income equality. These types of states have minimal effects on the microlevel political sentiments of the voters, but they do influence the voters’ moral conservatism.