The Political Implications of State Political Ideology: A Measure Tested

Abstract

Abstract Four different state political ideology measures are estimated and evaluated on the basis of their reliability and consisteny. The state political ideology measure accounting for constituency economic interest, legislator shirking, and political party loyalty is found to be the one with the most predictive power. Using this preferred ideology measure states were classified according to their political ideology along a conservative‐liberal continuum. The state rankings showed there are distinct regional differences in ideology. The Northeast and Pacific regions are very liberal, the South and Mountain regions are very conservative, and the Midwest region is relatively moderate. States in the Mountain region are found to be the most ideologically homogeneous, while the more heavily populated states tend to be more liberal. In addition, the United States citizens are found to have a moderately conservative political philosophy. Finally, the results suggest that a Democratic candidate would need to win Illinois, California, and Ohio plus all the liberal states to become President of the United States. The 1996 presidential note sustains the analysis herein.