Sectionalism and American Foreign Policy: The Political Geography of Consensus and Conflict

Abstract

For over two decades American foreign policy has been the subject of protracted conflict. Deep divisions exist over the uses of American power. This study argues that this conflict is regional in nature and is part of a larger struggle over national priorities between the nation's oldest and newest industrializing regions. Using Congress as a proxy for the national polity, I employ a spatial model to describe and analyze the regional bases of legislative voting over foreign policy. I show that since the late 1960s conflicts over foreign policy matters have pitted the “manufacturing belt” against the “sunbelt.” I argue that this regional conflict goes a long way in explaining the difficulty America's political leaders have experienced in articulating a vision of the national interest that inspires broad domestic support.