Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: • Has the white working class abandoned the Democratic Party? No. White voters in the bottom third of the income distribution have actually become more reliably Democratic in presidential elections over the past half-century, while middle- and upper-income white voters have trended Republican. Low-income whites have become less Democratic in their partisan identifications, but at a slower rate than more affluent whites – and that trend is entirely confined to the South, where Democratic identification was artificially inflated by the one-party system of the Jim Crow era.
• Has the white working class become more conservative? No. The average views of low-income whites have remained virtually unchanged over the past 30 years. (A pro-choice shift on abortion in the 1970s and ‘80s has been partially reversed since the early 1990s.) Their positions relative to more affluent white voters – generally less liberal on social issues and less conservative on economic issues – have also remained virtually unchanged.
• Do working class “moral values” trump economics? No. Social issues (including abortion) are less strongly related to party identification and presidential votes than economic issues are, and that is even more true for whites in the bottom third of the income distribution than for more affluent whites. Moreover, while social issue preferences have become more strongly related to presidential votes among middle- and high-income whites, there is no evidence of a corresponding trend among low-income whites.
• Are religious voters distracted from economic issues? No. The partisan attachments and presidential votes of frequent church-goers and people who say religion provides “a great deal” of guidance in their lives are much more strongly related to their views about economic issues than to their views about social issues. For church-goers as for non-church-goers, partisanship and voting behavior are primarily shaped by economic issues, not cultural issues.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: What's the Matter with Kansas suggests Kansans no longer vote in their economic interests. Precise economic measures are presented to test this thesis and to ascertain whether this pattern is evident nationwide.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: The Flint Hills of east-central Kansas contain the largest remaining contiguous tract of unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America. This paper examines agrarian landscape transition in this region. We trace the effects on the landscape of the introduction, adaptation, intensification and abandonment of agriculture. We approach the human-environment relationship as an ecological dialogue that includes both biophysical and social elements. The approach allows for a more cyclical model of landscape change in which land-use change affects landscapes, of altered landscapes affecting ecological and social processes, and of both influencing the ways in which humans monitor and respond to their surroundings, engendering further cycles of change. Variant theoretical frameworks are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Since Bollens (1957) first identified special districts as a “dark continent” in political science, the number of non-school special districts in the United States has grown substantially. During the past 50 years, however, political science objections to the fragmentation of metropolitan government have remained largely theoretical.
This study examines one form of non-school special districts-- park districts-- and evaluates their efficiency and effectiveness. The study evaluates park district services compared to similar services provided by consolidated general-purpose municipal governments.
Two competing hypotheses are identified. The first states that parks and recreation departments provide higher levels of efficiency in delivering services than park districts. The second states that park districts provide higher service levels than municipal parks and recreation departments.
Midwestern states were selected for the study because they have the largest number of non-school special districts in the United States and comparable numbers of parks and recreation departments within municipalities and county governments.
Service levels, autonomy, demographic, and administrator profile data for park districts and parks and recreation departments were collected by surveying an equal number of randomly selected park district administrators and randomly selected parks and recreation department administrators in Midwestern states.
Data was analyzed using comparative means testing, bivariate and multivariate linear regression to test the relationships between service levels, and efficiency levels, as identified in the literature. In addition, these quantitative techniques were used to test competing hypotheses identified in other studies, suggesting that staffing and professional training levels are explanations for service and budgetary levels.
The aggregate results of this study show that structure of government is not an important determinant of total recreation program levels. The study also demonstrates that structure of government is not an important determinant of levels of efficiency.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Rapid growth of the Hispanic population reshapes the social, economic, and cultural landscapes at a variety of scales throughout the Great Plains. Between 1990 and 2000, Hispanic population growth was higher in nonmetropolitan than in metropolitan areas. In some places, long-established Hispanic populations welcome newcomers from their ancestral home countries, mainly Mexico. In Kansas, this demographic trend involving Hispanic-Americans and newcomers among them provides a microcosm in which to examine spatiotemporal processes of residential assimilation and segregation. This mixed-methods project uses spatial statistics to calculate the index of dissimilarity for Hispanics versus whites in Hutchinson, Kansas, and uses qualitative data collected through participant observation, interviews, and archival research to analyze the discourse pertaining to (1) how Hispanics in Hutchinson view their experiences of assimilation and/or segregation within the native-born, non-Hispanic community and (2) how native-born residents of Hutchinson view Hispanics, both longtime residents and newcomers, in their midst.