The Changing Demographics of the South and Its Impact on National Politics

Abstract

The South has grown more in the past fifty years than any other region, leading to major changes in its economy and the racial/ethnic, gender, generational, socioeconomic, and political composition of its electorate. In the fifty years since the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the South’s politics have become more polarized, with sharp differences by race, place of birth, age, education, income, and gender. Most of the changes occurred during a period of realignment, during which Republicans expanded their regional dominance. But continued in-migration, accompanied by economic diversification and racial/ethnic and generational shifts, is beginning to push the political pendulum in the opposite direction. This “redirection” is most noticeable in the region’s high growth states, particularly in their fast-growing metropolitan areas characterized by larger concentrations of young, minority (and more Democratic-leaning) voters. Overall, this chapter lends credibility to the “demographics is destiny” thesis.