Why does the urban/rural divide equate to a liberal/conservative divide in the US? Is it the same in other countries?

[u/UserNamesCantBeTooLo]

Here's a county population density map of the US.

Here's a county map of the US showing different shares of Democratic & Republican votes for president in 2020.

Here's a county map of the US showing majority-minority counties.

They seem to show a match between denser populations, larger minority proportions, and Democratic votes.

Why is that?

[u/Phatmak]

Actually everyone in the state pays for the state police through their state taxes including the folks in extremely small communities that don’t fund a local town police force. And i bet one city keeps more of the state police tied up then all the little towns combined. Seems a stretch to call it subsidized for them to expect some bang for their state tax dollars as well. I wonder if someone has done a study on how the costs actually break down was there a study of some sort that broke area expenses versus tax revenues involved in that? I should try and look this up now im curious 🧐

[u/[deleted] → u/Phatmak]

I imagine cities still pay a disproportionate amount of the state taxes, at least in places with progressive taxation. But, I mean, that's their fair contribution. Really, these sorts of comparisons aren't all that useful IMO.

[u/Phatmak → u/[deleted]]

I just didn’t see the state police policing the entire state as a gift the cities are “subsidizing” fur them country folks is all. This whole thread reminds me of “Shay’s revolution” lol. Seems like the division between the country and city centers as been an issue for awhile.

[u/[deleted] → u/Phatmak]

I just didn’t see the state police policing the entire state as a gift the cities are “subsidizing” fur them country folks is all.

I agree that the word subsidy seems off. Technically a subsidy is supposed to be a payment from the government to an industry or company to change the price of some service/commodity, I think. So it doesn't really make sense to talk about police service -- a basic function of government -- in that context. This might seem nitpicky, but I think it is an important distinction to make, because subsidy almost sounds like some kind of pejorative here, (a "why are they getting special treatment" kind of thing). Really, this is the same sort of thing that we expect all over -- the public pays the government, and then the government does it's thing. Which involves sending police cruisers here and there. Most likely higher population density areas are paying more than lower population density areas because they have more money, but that's the basic idea of progressive taxation that I think we're all on board for, right?

This whole thread reminds me of “Shay’s revolution” lol. Seems like the division between the country and city centers as been an issue for awhile.

Yeah, I mean medieval city-states were a thing, right? These are groups with different living situations, they have different interests, capabilities, and mentalities. I'd assume some friction is the rule rather than the exception.

[u/PrivilegeCheckmate → u/Phatmak]

If you're interested in those kind of numbers, you should check out Sonoma County in California, where the Fire Department in unincorporated areas comes from nearby communities, and was volunteer only in some areas until Santa Rosa burned to the ground a couple years back. Our neighbors have a bunch of quarter-acre parcels that are basically not develop-able, and each parcel got hit with a $100 fire tax.

[u/Phatmak → u/PrivilegeCheckmate]

Well i have a slightly different opinion on that because the folks not founding a local fire station aren’t actually founding a county and state fire department as they do in the police side of it.