Your Morning Rorschach Test


Speaking of contradicting the prevailing wisdom, the scattergram above, found at this post at Nationscape’s site, should cause the heads of Democrats and Republicans alike to explode.

The conclusion the author draws from it is that among Republicans income is correlated with conservativeness. What conclusion do you draw from it?

Personally, it’s so out of line with the polling results I’ve seen I’d need some confirming evidence before I’d believe the conclusion that’s most apparent to me.

4 comments… add one
  • CuriousOnlooker Link

    The dispersion among Republicans in policy preferences is wider then Democrats – maybe explains why Republicans seem to have little legislative agenda in 2016-2018.

  • Yes, that’s what I notice, too.

    The prevailing wisdom is that Republicans are more ideological and more uniform in their views. The scattergram suggests that the opposite is true.

    How do you reconcile the prevailing wisdom with the scattergram? One possibility is that Republicans agree on a few core issues and disagree among themselves on just about everything else.

    I think it actually helps to explain the Trump Phenomenon. He sniffed out the core issues while the rest of the Republican field in 2016 didn’t.

  • bob sykes Link

    I used to have arguments with students and colleagues all the time over scatter plots like this. Regardless of the r-square on the line, the both plot prove that there is no correlation between income and political leanings for either Democrats or Republicans.

    None. Period. None.

    If you think r-square matters. Go read Briggs blog. And keep re-reading it until you get it.

  • Andy Link

    If you view contemporary politics on an elite vs pleb axis instead of a right vs left axis, then it makes some sense.

    I don’t find it surprising at all that there is some agreement on a handful of economic policy issues.

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