Mother Jones: Forget Red State, Blue State: Is Your State "Tight" or "Loose"?

[doxydad]

It is obvious to anyone who has traveled around the United States that cultural assumptions, behaviors, and norms vary widely. We all know, for instance, that the South is more politically conservative than the Northeast. And we at least vaguely assume that this is rooted in different outlooks on life.

The 10 tightest states? Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The 10 loosest, meanwhile, are California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Vermont. (Notice a pattern here?)


http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/07/us-states-tightness-looseness-map

[cali]

1. yep. there's a pattern

[tanyev]

2. Interesting. I wonder if they also did internal breakdowns within each state.

[Threedifferentones]

3. I wondered the same thing.

I live in TN, and I'm not surprised to see it described as "tight." But, I bet Nashville is a fair bit "looser" than most places in those states shaded white or light green.