This book was in many ways a Rorschach Test: you see what you want to see. It was on some level interesting to read why some regions of the country had not done as well as they are predicted to. Likewise it was also interesting to read why some parts of the country had done better than they were predicted to.
This book had some interesting research on demographic trends. It seemed to be able to support its claims on how some parts of the country had increased or decreased marriage and teen pregnancy rates.
The main problem I had with this book was that it relied too heavily on political stereotypes: e.g. Democrats want more gun laws, Republicans are all opposed to keeping abortion legal, or are with the Christian Right. I can think of multiple Democrats who are generally opposed to gun restrictions, and several Democrats who want more restrictions--if not an outright ban--on abortion. There is more than one Republican who favors keeping abortion legal. This book would have been better if it didn't concern itself with what party supports what, and instead focused on the regional cultures.Get more detail about Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture.
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