The Long-Delayed Party Realignment: Examining Politics From 1932-1960 in the Badger State

Abstract

The objective of this research is to use factor analysis to create and find characteristics of the 1936-1960 Presidential election period in the state of Wisconsin. Including both time and space within this project helps create a more solid picture of the patterns that occurred during this period. Voting results were collected for each county in each election during this time period from the Wisconsin Blue Book. T-Mode analysis calculated time periods and S-Mode analysis found the electoral regions in Wisconsin. In addition to these quantitative results, many qualitative sources from political geography, political science, history and other disciplines were studied to demonstrate electoral patterns through time and space in Wisconsin. The period of 1936-1960 will be emphasized in this presentation because of the important shift that occurred during this timeframe. The results of this study add to the existing literature of how history and geography can be used to understand politics in the Badger State.