UVA’s Miller Center discusses role of rural vs. urban divide in political polarization

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - We hear it all the time: Americans are living in an increasingly polarized political environment.

A big piece of that conflict, according to the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, can come down to where you live. It’s the stark divide that’s visible on recent election maps: dots of blue cities in a sea of rural red.

On Friday, a panel took a look at the rural versus urban divide, how it’s contributing to the American political landscape, and what can be done to mend it.

“This divide is really detrimental to democracy,” said Suzanne Mettler, the author of Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide that Threatens Democracy and a professor at Cornell University. “It creates an ‘us versus them’ politics.”

Mettler, who grew up in rural upstate New York and co-wrote her book based on interviews with people in different rural localities, says voting differences began back in the 1990s. Now, the divide between those who live in cities and rural areas has taken an increasingly political spin.

“It’s partisan animosity of disliking the party that is strong in that other kind of place,” Mettler said.

Sidney Milkis, a politics professor at UVA and a senior fellow at the Miller Center, says this lends itself to a great deal of stereotyping on both sides.

“I think one of the big problems is when people live in different places, is they don’t talk to each other,” Milkis said. “It’s easy to demonize someone you never see. Once you meet them, oh, they’re human beings, too.”

It’s something that both political parties, Milkis says, have played into to gain followers and therefore made worse.

“It’s gotten embedded in party conflict, and so the parties, rather than ameliorating this, are exacerbating it by fostering, cultivating these stereotypes, from the president on down,” Milkis said.

A big piece of Friday’s conversation revolved around how those who live in rural areas have increasingly shifted towards the Republican party, which Milkis and Mettler say is often based on a feeling that the Democratic party has come to solely represent urban hubs.

“Rural people start to feel that the Democratic party is being run by urbanites who have more comfortable lives than themselves,” Mettler said. “Policy after policy, they’re having to abide by some rules and regulations that are created elsewhere, and they didn’t have a voice in it.”

So, how do we possibly lower the temperature and bridge some of these gaps? UVA Law professor, Richard Schragger, a panelist at the meeting, suggests shifting from the Dillon Rule, which determines that local governments only have as much power as is given to them by the state, to a model that emphasizes more local control.

“I think lots of people feel like either the state or the national government is doing stuff to them, so we have to reinvigorate self-government,” Schragger said. “Is it going to do everything that we need it to do? No. But there are institutional ways and reforms that one can adopt that empower folks in both kinds of places.”

Another big piece, Mettler said, is ensuring that both parties are present and engaging with those in the opposite environment, particularly the Democratic party in rural areas.

“We think it’s important for the Democratic party to show up there and first and foremost to listen to local people and to hear, what are your needs here, what do you need government to do for you, how do you think problems should be solved?” Mettler said.

Milkis says a lot of it comes down to connection, which, though it’s easier said than done, is crucial.

“People need to encounter with each other, engage with each other, listen to each other,” Milkis said.

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