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Jonathan Rodden

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Why Cities Lose: The Deep Roots of the Urban-Rural Political Divide Hardcover – June 4, 2019

by Jonathan A. Rodden (Author)

55 ratings

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A prizewinning political scientist traces the origins of urban-rural political conflict and shows how geography shapes elections in America and beyond

Why is it so much easier for the Democratic Party to win the national popular vote than to build and maintain a majority in Congress? Why can Democrats sweep statewide offices in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan yet fail to take control of the same states' legislatures? Many place exclusive blame on partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression. But as political scientist Jonathan A. Rodden demonstrates in Why Cities Lose, the left's electoral challenges have deeper roots in economic and political geography.

In the late nineteenth century, support for the left began to cluster in cities among the industrial working class. Today, left-wing parties have become coalitions of diverse urban interest groups, from racial minorities to the creative class. These parties win big in urban districts but struggle to capture the suburban and rural seats necessary for legislative majorities. A bold new interpretation of today's urban-rural political conflict, Why Cities Lose also points to electoral reforms that could address the left's under-representation while reducing urban-rural polarization.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

June 4, 2019
Dimensions

6.35 x 1.5 x 9.55 inches
ISBN-10

1541644271
ISBN-13

978-1541644274
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Why Cities Lose is a towering achievement in understanding the structural roots of partisan polarization in America and the critical role played by economic and political geography. Jonathan A. Rodden employs sophisticated historical, comparative, and data visualization techniques to shed light on the fateful consequences for political representation and policy of single-member, first-past-the-post legislative districts. It is certain to enrich scholarly and public debates."―Thomas E. Mann, coauthorof It's Even Worse Than It Looks

"The biggest problem facing America today is political polarization: Democrats command the superstar cities and tech hubs that drive the knowledge economy, while Republicans have a stronghold in suburban places and rural areas. In this important book, Jonathan A. Rodden draws on a trove of data spanning the twentieth century to show us in painstaking detail why cities continue to lose out to rural and suburban interests and what challenges this poses for our democracy."―Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class and The New Urban Crisis

"Why Cities Lose is a masterful explanation for the main axis of conflict in contemporary US politics, the rural vs. urban divide. With exemplary scholarship and an eye to global trends as well as surprisingly important details such as the placement of railroads, Rodden gives us a thorough understanding of the central political conflicts of our time."―Katherine J. Cramer,author of The Politics of Resentment

"This important book, which should reset our understanding of polarization in America and around the world, will comfort neither those on the left who see themselves as the vanguard of a victorious electoral future, nor those on the right who believe that voters are fundamentally conservative."―Andrew Gelman, author of Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State

"This astute and illuminating book will change how you think about electoral fairness and political representation in America. Why Cities Lose meticulously demonstrates how winner-take-all congressional districts systematically under-represent urban voters in legislatures and destructively polarize politics along urban-rural lines -- not just in the United States, but also in Canada and the United Kingdom. The result is distorted representation in all winner-take-all democracies, even those with independent redistricting processes. At time when politics in America feels so unfair, this book clarifies how much our skewed electoral system is to blame. For anyone who wants to fix America's broken politics, this is absolutely essential reading."―Lee Drutman, author of The Business of America is Lobbying

About the Author

Jonathan A. Rodden is professor of political science and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and founder and director of the Stanford Spatial Social Science Lab. The author of the prizewinning Hamilton's Paradox, he lives in Stanford, California.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; Illustrated edition (June 4, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1541644271
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1541644274
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.35 x 1.5 x 9.55 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #131,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #19 in Urban & Regional Economics (Books)
- #56 in United States Local Government
- #58 in U.S.Congresses, Senates & Legislative

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Timely & Fascinating

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is groundbreaking political science by Jonathan Rodden and one that while not an easy read, pretty accessible to average citizens. I devoured this book over a couple of days. While I could quibble with certain arguments, I broadly found myself in agreement with much of the arguments and conclusions made in "Why Cities Lose".

As someone who lives in one of "those" cities, Seattle, studied political science and has been pondering the growing divide between urban and rural America, this is a timely, well-researched and comprehensive analysis. Rodden traces the growth of American cities through the second industrial revolution and the role of political parties, particularly on the left, as they grew in importance in those urban areas, knitting together a far more fractured and diverse coalition than the rural conservative party. As manufacturing jobs left many of those industrial Northern cities and cities shrunk with flight to suburbs, Rodden begins to break down the data to show a growing divide based on proximity to city centers. Today, as the transition to a knowledge economy concentrates wealth, jobs and infrastructure in cities like SF, Seattle, Austin, we see large progressive majorities that don't always translate into the electoral successes one would expect. While I do think Rodden downplays the insidiousness of gerrymandering, I do think he makes a fairly convincing case that addressing gerrymandering alone won't remedy everything given some case law guiding drawing up districts and the more pernicious role that majoritarian representation has on the growing political divide.

Rodden's use of modern analytic capabilities, "big data" to crunch vast amounts of voter data build out comprehensive and digestible charts and tables that prove very convincing. For the amount of data and analysis, I didn't find it extremely difficult to follow. Although, as a poli sci major, I'm likely less inclined to be overtaken by all the numbers and data. For someone who isn't, there are times when all the charts, tables and data can be a bit overwhelming and I do think there were some instances where editing could have tightened things a bit, reduced redundancy and made for a slightly more digestible read. However, I can't fault an academic too much since you want to leverage as much data to make your theories stand up to rigorous analysis.

I would challenge and hope that most of the current crop of Democratic politicians would read this book and think about this as we head into the 2020 election cycle. The lessons could be invaluable as they focus on an approach that can unite as much of a coalition of Democratic and Independent voters to defeat Trump.

10 people found this helpful

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Mannie Liscum

Deep but accessible; brilliant and readable!

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

“Jonathan Rodden’s “Why Cities Lose” is a tremendous piece of scholarly work; written concisely and accessibly for a lay audience without sacrificing any of the facts and figures (quite literally) that might oft mire down a book like this. As an academic I was enthralled by the data Rodden expertly presented and analyzed. His presentation of text and data is clear. He explains the way data were collected and how he interprets them, while also providing them for the reader to interpret independently. This is how ‘science’ is done!!!

Rodden presents a clear history of how the industrial revolutions (first and second), as well as the current post-industrial knowledge-based global economies gave rise to and reinforced urban-rural divisions in the US, Canada and Europe. This is not always a straightforward history but Rodden takes the reader through with deft. Beyond the establishment and reinforcement of the urban-rural divide, Rodden shows how the urban environ has become synonymous with the Labor/left/Democrats, while the rural areas have become strongholds for the conservatives/Republicans in politics. But the meat of Rodden’s exploration has to do with the analysis of data associated with these facts and how it plays out to ultimately limit the political reach and success of the left; hence ‘Why Cities Lose.’ Rodden provides clear evidence for how electoral systems that are winner-take all, as exist in the US, Britain and Commonwealth countries, puts the left at a disadvantage because of their concentration to urban centers. In winner-take all systems the rural, exurban, and conservative suburban areas have disproportionate electoral power at state and national levels. Rodden explains, with lots of evidence, how and why this is the case and discusses how parties of the left can/do combat this structure feature of modern political societies. Though the thesis reflects mostly on the power failings of one side of the political spectrum, Rodden’s is not a partisan analysis or presentation. As I would tell my students, “the data are what the data are” and they require no spin of partisanship. I can’t recommend this book highly enough to the political junky, especially one wanting to understand winner-take all electoral systems and right/conservative dominance of them in highly industrialized societies. 5 hearty stars!!!”

6 people found this helpful

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