What is it about New England?

[cali]

New England is undoubtedly the most progressive region in the country. Why is that so? What about the area has led to it being the most liberal part of the country? I don't really have any ideas as to why this is so. I know it's less religious than most places. I know it's older and perhaps more mature socially, but beyond that, I'm at a loss.

[el_bryanto]

1. Is it more urbanized?

I've noted in the past that the Conservative social policies hurt cities more than rural areas.

But I guess there are plenty of farms up there.

Bryant

[rox63]

2. Vermont is one of the most liberal states, and it is very rural n/t

[cali]

3. nope. lots of rural areas, lots of suburbs, moderate sized to small cities.

[Donnachaidh]

47. compared to other areas in the East, Vermont is RURAL

Even Montpelier is considered tiny, not on a huge *city* scale.

And I'm sure lots of Canadian French who have settled in Vermont over the years would argue with you about how *progressive* Vermont has been in the past. Unless of course you're WASP and living in Vermont, then of *course* the state has always been progressive :eyes:

[cali]

63. huh? I was talking about NE as a whole, not VT

yeah, Montpelier is tiny- about 7,000 people live there. And sorry, you're largely wrong about the French Canadians who live here. Where I live, for example, there has always been a very strong French Canadian influence.

[Deep13]

4. Two words: candlepin bowling.

Seriously, I'll put it this way. A small city like Worcester, MA has ten fully-accredited colleges or universities. The emphasis on education, the diversity of the population and the relative economic afluence all help contribute to this.

[cali]

8. Does NE as a whole have a greater number of institutions of higher learning

per capita than other regions of the country? My guess would be yes, but I don't know. One thing that does come to mind is that NE ranks high re education of children. CT, VT, NH, MA are all in the top 10. Not sure about ME and RI.

[Deep13]

11. I haven't looked at any surveys, but...

...it is my impression. I grew up in the Worcester area.

[bdamomma]

13. RI has great learning establishments

such as Providence College, Brown University, and RI School of Design, among others.

[eShirl]

30. Maine has Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin colleges

[cali]

36. Vermont doesn't score as high on the higher ed scale as other states in NE

I mean there's Middlebury and Bennington. UVM is one of the most expensive state universities in the country.

[GreenPartyVoter]

116. The university system isn't all that bad, either. I came through it. :^P

[Jennicut]

74. I grew up playing that!

[XemaSab]

5. Puritans.

They liked learning.

[nxylas]

35. Have you read Albion's Seed?

It goes into this in some detail.

[Thirtieschild]

42. Great book

It explains a lot, not only about New England but also about the South.

[XemaSab]

43. It's a great book!

And yeah, that's where I got that from. :D

[Sequoia]

96. I just stared to read "The Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell

pretty funny book.

[marauding liberal]

6. Education and critical thinking skills.

[BeFree]

7. Yankees?

That and all the unhappy people moved away to Calif, Fla. etc. leaving behind folks who like to live there. When your community has peace and happiness, progress is much easier to obtain?

[Jennicut]

73. Yup. A lot of neighbors who were unhappy when I was a kid moved to CA

The ones that stayed in my neighborhood wanted to, even though the winters are kind of a drag.

[Sanity Claws]

9. Don't forget the Pacific Northwest

The western parts of Washington and Oregon are also very progressive. What is it about them? Whatever it is, is it the same as New England?

[cali]

16. I don't think Washington or Oregon rank as high up

in terms of education or health. Two of the NE states have marriage equality. Two of the others have comprehensive civil unions. There isn't a single repub member of the House left in NE.

[Sanity Claws]

22. As a whole, perhaps

but if you focus on the parts of the state west of the Cascades, particularly the Seattle and Portland metro areas, it rivals New England in terms of education and health.

[FraDon]

19. Hardiness to weather extremes • n/t

[bdamomma]

10. this is from wikipedia

if you want the information regarding the New England States

I am happy to say I am from Southern New England (RI).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England

[cali]

23. Great Wiki article, thanks. Lots of great facts

and some good quotes like this one from de Toqueville:

New England, where education and liberty are the daughters of morality and religion, where society has acquired age and stability enough to enable it to form principles and hold fixed habits, the common people are accustomed to respect intellectual and moral superiority and to submit to it without complaint, although they set at naught all those privileges which wealth and birth have introduced among mankind. In New England, consequently, the democracy makes a more judicious choice than it does elsewhere.

[OneBlueSky]

12. maybe it's that every town has a Congregationalist church in the town square? . . .

just a thought . . . ;-)

[defendandprotect]

94. Memories of Puritanism ...?????

And valuing free thought and freedom of conscience ...

Democracy ... those values protected by Separation of Church & State --

the very opposite of organized patriarchal religion----!!!

[babylonsister]

14. Good question. Independent thinkers who take no guff? nt

[connecticut yankee]

15. We're just

enlightened and open-minded as well as compassionate.

Don't get me wrong -- there are plenty of narrow-minded bigots here, too, but fortunately, they're in the minority. Most of them moved down South.

[Scackmgackm]

24. Not sure it's all of New England

I live in Boston - we have a steady influx of college students every year, and you can spit in any direction and hit a college or university. Lots of young, hip minds. Lots of liberal college professors. The center of liberal thought is right across the Charles River in Cambridge. So, it's easy to understand why Boston, itself, is very progressive, and seeing as how this is the seat of State government, easy to see how many of our laws can be progressive as well.

It's not fair to say that the whole state of Mass. really is "progressive" or "liberal," however. Western Mass. can be very conservative.

I'm not sure that calling all of New England "liberal" is entirely accurate, either. New Hampshire is not terribly liberal. Vermont is somewhat of an aberration nationally...I've never met someone born and raised in Vermont who wasn't all sort of mellow...but I don't think that Maine or Rhode Island are particularly liberal.

We do tend to have a lot of money in these States, which I think lends itself to a tolerant, moderate air. We're doing alright up here, so we're less concerned with the overall state of things, maybe?

Cultural maturity has a lot to do with it...this is the only area of the country which has been part of America from the beginning and which never saw the civil war on its territory or seceded from the Union for a titch. I suppose it makes sense that the national ideals of equality, liberty, and freedom would have taken root here more solidly than anywhere else in the nation.

[Bill McBlueState]

98. It's surprising to hear western MA described as conservative

I lived in the Pioneer Valley for seven years, and I was convinced we would have our own little people's republic if not for the blue-dog types in the Boston suburbs.

[bicentennial_baby]

103. There are pockets of conservatism there, but mainly at the bottom

of the Valley, like Longmeadow and Palmer, some towns in the Berkshires. But yeah, that's about it. I miss the Valley.

[Bombero1956]

109. exactly

I still live in the Pioneer Valley and you can't get more liberal that Noho and schools like Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College and Amherst College. Throw in Hampshire College and UMass and we're the most liberal part of the state.

[KamaAina]

105. RI is (or was last cycle) the Bluest state in the land

measured by percentage of Dem vote for Congress.

edit: CT was a close second. This must have been when Traitor Joe wasn't on the ballot...

[AllieB]

106. MA has a completely Democratic congressional delegation

in addition to a Democratic governor and Democratic statehouse. I wonder what their criteria was for bluest state. :shrug:

[jazzjunkysue]

17. Very expensive to live here, near NYC and Boston, so, you have to be paid well

to live here. So, you have to be pretty smart or good-looking or talented in some way to afford the rent.

Also, NY is a big hub for TV/Music/Film making as well as art and science and history museums.

It's just expected that you keep up with global events here. It's the land of NPR.

[patrice]

18. Perhaps it is inhabited by the "ghosts" of some of the victims of intolerance . . . ?

[Lorien]

20. Better education K-Ph.D. nt

[boomerbust]

21. ?

<<<<<<<<<<

[Sanity Claws]

25. Closeness to Canada?

Canada's tolerance has influenced the surrounding areas.
Problem with theory: Idaho.

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Pithy Post

"Problem with theory: Idaho." Funny stuff!
GAC

[ozone_man]

26. Probably a combination of factors.

Higher education, especially the colleges, and higher standard of living than most other regions in the U.S. have a lot to do with it. Higher education correlates with being more liberal and less religious.

I think being a smaller region with higher population density helps, with New York and Boston as cultural, financial and educational centers.

I'm sure that New England was not always so liberal with it's Puritan beginnings, but that was moderated over the years, while the new evangelical religions that grew in the West and South are very conservative. The isolation, both geographical and cultural are probably factors there.

[eShirl]

27. I wish I knew... something happened to us between "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and today.

probably the whole 19th century

[lamp_shade]

28. Could religion be a factor? I grew up there in a town of 10000 with 4

protestant churches and 3 catholic churches. Rarely were any of these churches filled to capacity. I moved to Florida a year ago and live in the same size town, but there's 1 catholic church and at least 20 "other" churches with denominations I've never heard of. Some are in barns or abandoned homes or deserted shopping centers... but they're PACKED every weekend.

[cali]

29. definitely. New England is less religious than most parts of the country

That's gotta be part of it.

[Jennicut]

75. We are just as religious but we don't feel the need to have to show up every Sunday

My husband is a church organist at a Lutheran church. Our church is usually packed for the special holidays but during the rest of the year the attendance is sporadic. I think we are just as religious as other parts of the country but no one has to prove they are to anyone else so its not a "requirement" for acceptance.

[Bill McBlueState]

99. "no one has to prove they are to anyone else"

New Englanders mind their own business; that's a huge difference between New England and the Midwest or South.

[connecticut yankee]

102. It depends on the church

My Unitarian Church is packed every Sunday, at two services.

But Unitarians are noted for being liberal.

[Odin2005]

32. The reason goes all the way back to the English Civil War in the 1600s.

The Puritans and Quakers who settled the northern colonies were egalitarian types while the southern colonies were dominated by wannabe aristocrat "Cavilers" who supported the King's Divine Right to rule during the English Civil War.

[Armstead]

33. Good Question -- Part of it I think is the nature of religioin here

There's probably a combination of reasons.

But one, I think, is the natture of religion here. Instead of trying to enforce sexual morality and rigid fundamentalist values, churches here tend to be more oriented to community and social asdsistance. While churches here have their moralistic side, they tend to be more "live and let live" and look more at personal salvation and helping one's neighbors.

[cali]

34. Are there any evangelical mega churches in New England at all?

[Armstead]

38. Probably, but not anywhere around here (far western Mass)

Of course, we don't have enough people for a mega church. :)

Even if everyone here was a member of the same church, it would still probably fit into one corner of a real mega church.

But even those smaller fundy would-be mega churches that we do have usually tend to be less obnoxious than their counterparts elsewhere.

[pipi_k]

39. How far Western Mass

are you?

I live in one of the Hilltowns, along the Jacobs Ladder Trail


:)




PS...I just now thought of a church out in these parts that might be comparable to one of those Mega Churches...

Do you know Bethany Assembly of God? In Agawam...

that's about the closest one I can think of to a Mega Church

[Armstead]

58. As far west as you can get without being in New York

Pittsfield -- If I drive five miles west I'm over the line

[cali]

60. I love that area.

I attended Simon's Rock way back when.

[pipi_k]

65. I suppose it's changed

since 1970. I lived in Pittsfield for a few months back then.

On West Street, going out away from the city.



Where I am now is almost smack dab in the middle between Pittsfield and Springfield


Do you ever feel like the people out in the Eastern part of the state don't even know we exist?

[Jennicut]

82. no mega churches but plenty of born-again type churches

my aunt goes to one

[Bombero1956]

111. the only one I know of is

The Bethany Assembly of God in Agawam Mass. They have 6 pastors on staff and are affiliated with the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri.

[pipi_k]

37. As a life-long resident of Massachusetts...

I've often asked myself that same question.

Many people come from Puritan stock. Probably just as many are descendants of the Canadian French (as I am) who came here to NE to work in the mills.

Neither of those two main groups makes me think of Liberalism.

Maybe the reason is, as some people have stated, the many colleges and universities...institutes that inspired critical thinking.

Although, as someone else pointed out, we do have our share of bigots as well, and what's interesting is that you can't always depend on bigotry to be alive and well in all of the smaller (rural) towns, as one might expect. Some of the smaller cities and towns are populated by some very educated and liberal people. Others are populated by the less educated and more bigoted people. In my part of the state, anyway...

[jpgray]

40. I think it comes down to a wonderful paradox: a tradition of intellectualism

Not to say that other regions all despise their intellectuals in all cases and in all places, but I think it's fair to say New England is the most friendly environment for the educated and the curious.

[cali]

45. interestsing observation. Maybe size also has something to do with it

Relatively small population (14 million in six states) and small area wise.

[Vickers]

41. Warm weather makes people stupid.

I'm in Florida, trust me on this one.

[Donnachaidh]

44. oh puhleeze...

The *ode to my area* :rofl:

New England is NOT the most progressive, but you keep thinking that way. :rofl: :crazy: :crazy: :rofl: :rofl:

I'm sure the fine folks in Olympia Snow's district would disagree :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl::crazy: :crazy: :rofl: :rofl:

[cali]

46. Actually, by virtually every measurement, it is.

Education, health, religion (less of it)
only two states in the country that have marriage equality are in New England. 3 other states have comprehensive civil unions.
No repubs from NE in the House come January.

Those are just the facts.

[Donnachaidh]

49. :ROFL:

:rofl: :rofl:

[cali]

51. not exactly a resounding refutation.

facts are stubborn things and little laughing smilies just don't change them, sorry.

[Jennicut]

77. Snowe and Collins would be Democrats in any other part of the country

My governor is a Repub, in CT. There is no way she could be elected as one in other parts of the country. She is way too moderate.

[cali]

80. same with my horrible gov, Jim Douglas aka Captain Milquetoast

He's still horrible but in many parts of the country he'd be considered a liberal. ugh.

[Jennicut]

85. Yup. Jodi Rell is okay. I want a more progressive governor

but we have a very liberal state legislature and she works with them well so...

[pipi_k]

59. There are more out there

If you care to search for them.


http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/archives/2008/06/ranking_states.html



Or maybe you can provide proof that your derision is justified instead of just laughing and insinuating that the OP is a fool?

[Mudoria]

50. Having been to this utopia

of civilization several times I have to agree with you. Never seen more racists congregated in one section since the days of the old South. Doesn't take much to find 'em either.

[cali]

55. lol.

yep all the racists in Vermont is why only Hawaii voted more heavily for Obama. It's why Vermont went for Jesse Jackson in the dem caucus in 1988.

Of course there are racists here but what an absurd statement yours is "that more racists congregate in one section" than any place since the days of the old south.

Your prejudice not withstanding, you offer no facts to back up your claim. I offer you the last election when NE went overwhelmingly for an African American candidate.

[Nye Bevan]

64. Also, New England should be proud of its powerful anti-slavery tradition

and I think that this tradition may have something to do with the region's present-day liberalism.

Thomas Jefferson the Virginian owned many slaves. John Adams actually lived up to his beliefs and never owned a slave, nor employed slave labor. A lot of the plain-spoken fairmindedness of Adams and his contemporaries can be seen in today's New England.

[Jennicut]

100. I love John Adams

I am watching the miniseries about him.

[pipi_k]

69. Know what was interesting?

A few of the rural towns out my way, I expected to overwhelmingly (because they tend to be more conservative) go for McCain.

Well...only about one or two actually had a McCain majority, and it really wasn't by all that much.

so even the Conservative towns out my way didn't fall into the "We're going to vote for a white man over a black man" crap.

It made me proud...

:)

[AllieB]

68. That's why Massachusetts has one of the only African-American governors

and the entire region voted overwhelmingly for Obama. This includes rural regions in VT, NH, and ME that are overwhelmingly WASP or French-Canadian.

[CTyankee]

48. Visit New Haven, Cali, and I will take you on my "liberal New Haven" tour!

I can show you where Estelle Griswold defied state law at her Planned Parenthood clinic and started the process that became Griswold v. CT. Until this past year I could have introduced to you one of the original lawyers on the case and one of the former Board members of PPC at the time (both dear ladies passed away in 2008). You can visit a replica of the Amistad in New Haven's harbor. I'll take you to the Green where Noah Webster delivered speeches and to the site where George Washington dined with CT signers of the Declaration of Independence. We will walk on the Green, underneath which lie the bones of many early founders of New Haven (1638). We'll tour Yale and its colleges. I'll take you backstage of the Shubert Theater, where casts of many, many great pre-Broadway shows wrote their names on a wall.

But come in June when our Arts and Ideas Festival is held on the Green and see the vibrancy of our city. It will give you an idea of what we've got going for us in this New England city...

[cali]

57. I actually grew up in CT

and visited New Haven a lot- particularly when one of my sister's was in grad school there.

[CTyankee]

61. There you go! So you know all about New Haven's culture.

Was you sister at Yale?

[cali]

67. yep. at Forestry and Environmental Studies

She's now at NRDC and has been for about 20 years.

[CTyankee]

81. Was she one of the graduates who wore broccoli on her mortar board

to protest GHBush's speaking at the graduation ceremony?

[slackmaster]

52. It's the chowdah

And the lobstah.

[CTyankee]

56. Don't forget the Cotuit oysters...

There's a great oyster menu at Legal Seafoods in Boston. That's the only seafood restaurant where I trust the oysters...

[pipi_k]

71. The great chowdah wars

Chowdah should NEVER be red, like they try to serve it in NY (Manhattan Clam Chowder). True New Englanders (IMO, anyway) wouldn't soil their lips eating that red crap.

New England clam chowder is always white, always thick and rich and creamy, so your spoon stands up in it all by itself.


Good healthy brain food

:7

[Jennicut]

79. And the pizza wars. Pepe's or Sally's in New Haven?

[CTyankee]

83. I like Modern Pizza myself. There's also Dayton St. Pizza here in Westville

which has great pizza (or should I say apizza, pronounced "AhBEETS"). Now we don't have to go all the way down to Wooster St. for our pizza...

[Jennicut]

84. I heard Modern was good as well. I am from Cheshire originally

so we would stop in at New Haven on occasion. Apizza is where it is at...I think they are all good!

[CTyankee]

90. Did you hear about Mory's financial problems?

They're closing till January and restructuring. There's some fear that it will close forever, which will put lots of old Elis in a funk...

[Jennicut]

97. I did hear that. I hope it does not stay closed forever

:(

[connecticut yankee]

104. Pepe's definitely!

especially the clam pizza.

[GreenPartyVoter]

53. Didn't used to be. Maine was a red state when I was growing up. I think a lot of

progressives may have moved here from elsewhere, but we definitely have plenty of homegrown ones as well. :)

[CTyankee]

113. I can remember when there used to be such a thing as a Liberal Republican.

And actually, Chris Shays is the remnant of them, altho he just finally couldn't cut it any more with his district. Liberal Republicans balanced out Southern Democrats, so to speak.

The political parties were a lot different then (pre Reagan)...

[kstewart33]

54. Maybe it's because their ascendants...

came to America because of their own religious persecution. So the church-state separation is a value that's lasted for centuries there.

[AllieB]

70. This, and the general MYOB attitude about religion.

[BlooInBloo]

62. I'm sure someone has written a cultural version of The Nine Nations Of North America...

which would explain the historical events leading to such an end result.

I have no idea who has written that book of course, but then I don't really care. "Historical accident" suffices for me on the question.

[AllieB]

66. I don't think it's a super progressive region as much as it's a private region.

Yes, New England does have a history of progressivism and rebellion. But I think one of the most oft-overlooked qualities of the region is an almost fanatical concern with privacy, which leads to a type of tolerance and independence not seen in other areas. New Englanders don't care what you do in the privacy of your home, are generally unconcerned as to which god you pray to, and do not like others trying to snoop and control behavior. This probably stems from the Puritans and other religious denominations who were persecuted in their homelands. It also derives from the vast number of religions in the urban areas. It's considered rude to talk about one's religion here (akin to farting at the supper table or discussing your sex life with strangers). I never knew or cared about the religious beliefs of my neighbors. No one talked about their churches, temples, etc. There are many conservative areas in New England. New England has tons of small towns that vote Republican, but I think the common glue is the sense of privacy, which, despite the gruff exteriors and often rude manners of my regional compatriots, is actually the pinnacle of etiquette and social tolerance.

[pipi_k]

76. I would agree except

that when we bring the Puritans into it, there's all sorts of problems...like how they punished people for various breaches of social mores.

Sturbridge Village and Plimouth Plantation still have the original stocks where people were placed for violating such rules as working on Sundays or falling asleep in church or whatever.

I think that maybe they were private (closed) from outside influences, but less private within themselves, everyone taking an active interest in what everyone else was doing.


Speaking of Plimouth Plantation (above)...if you ever get the chance to come to Mass, take a trip out to see it. The people who work there are in character all the time, and it's really a trip to feel like you've been shuttled back to a whole different time. :)

[Jennicut]

78. I love Sturbridge...we had a.school field trip there when I was a kid

We have some cool places in CT like Mystic Seaport. It really gives you an oldschool New England flavor. My daughters loved it there.

[AllieB]

101. i'm from and live in MA

:-)

I just went to Plimouth with my niece last year. I think that the puritan views evolved over the years. That would explain the prominent role of New England churches in the abolition movement.

[mainer]

87. best answer I"ve seen yet!

[Jennicut]

72. We have been around forever, our states are small, and we have an independent spirit

I have lived in Connecticut all of my 33 years. I would never ever want to live anywhere else except another state in New England. We are private, as the poster above me said. Some call us "cold". Its not that, its that we think things are no big deal. We just deal with problems and move on. Mass once had the witch trials and I think we learned from that not to judge others so quickly. We dislike anyone telling us what to do. Stubborn comes to mind. "Stiff upper lip" as well. Our philosophy is almost British, because we are some of the oldest states in the Union. The British influence wore off most of the other states, but we were patterned so closely after them. That leads to our independent way of thinking I think. Plus, our states are very small. Its a lot easier to pass things like gay marriage in a state where winning over the amount of people is like miniscule compared to a state like CA. We also do have a higher standard of living here so people must be well educated to live here.

I love being a New Englander!

[CTyankee]

88. Yale-Harvard games at the Yale Bowl are lots of fun.

It's cold as can be at that time of the season but just the atmosphere of The Game is such a great experience. We have a tailgate group that is pretty large and very active.

[surrealAmerican]

86. I'm thinking it may have something to do with early town design...

... which keeps towns more or less "walkable". New England is perhaps the only part of the country where "town meetings" can routinely attract a decent percentage of the population. People who actually see and talk to their neighbors may be more prone to develop more progressive attitudes. Fewer towns in other parts of the country have maintained designs from before the automobile became ubiquitous.

[CTyankee]

91. Funny little story: Steven Spielberg filmed part of his last Indiana Jones movie

in the heart of New Haven (and on the Yale Old Campus) in the summer of 07 and got traffic downtown so gridlocked people were stuck in their cars and couldn't move for a couple of hours. I don't know what Spielberg was thinking. These old streets are tricky to navigate in normal traffic but this was a big screw up. Spielberg had said that New Haven was his prototypical Ivy League college town (I think his dtr went to Yale), but I wish he had filmed in Princeton, instead...

[Recursion]

89. How quickly times change. It was the center of GOP support for a long time

I'd say several factors:

1) Actually, being the center of GOP support for a long time was part of it; this was back when Republicans were called "Progressives".

2) Unionized heavy manufacturing rather than non-unionized agriculture

3) Puritan rather than Cavalier

4) Lots and lots of immigrants

[TayTay]

92. Reverence for education, knowledge of our own imperfections

New England is old. There are cities and towns here that trace back to the early 1600's. Massachusetts had a dual founding, the Plimoth colony, which ultimately failed and the Salem/Boston founding which succeeded. (Plimoth was the more tolerant of the 2 colonies, btw.)

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an intolerant place. In fact, quite a bit of the rest of New England owes it's founding to people who couldn't stand the restrictions of the early Mass Bay colony and left. (Check out who founded RI, Conn, etc.)

Time can breed introspection. The early settlers of MA thought they were inventing utopia. Instead, human sin and frailty followed them into their new settlements. All the sins that flesh is heir to are here in our history. The failure to achieve utopia and the cost of even trying are part of the landscape here. (Anyone ever read Hawthorne?)

That is one strain of history here: the brooding, introspective strain. The other strain is the desire for utopia itself. That has also never gone away. So, we have a history of striving for a better world, with the sullen knowledge that we will never get there. It kind of marks a place and settles into the bones.

When Rebecca Nurse was undergoing the witchcraft persecutions, she didn't rail at her accusers, she questioned God, "…as to this thing, I am as innocent as the child unborn, but surely what sin hath God found out in me unrepented of that He should lay such an affliction upon me in my old age?" Those were the founders of a lot of this area and the moral founders of New England.

[Alexander]

93. Town hall meetings.

In New England, your elected officials are expected to consistently attend town meetings which are open to the public - and they have to take questions from the public.

It's a tradition that is at least as old as New England, and possibly older.

I have never seen such direct participation in government in any other region of the country.

It provides instant accountability - if your representative screws up, he or she will hear about it.

[TayTay]

95. It also fosters pettiness and grudges

Town Meetings have 2 sides to them. There is a reason why a lot of towns opt out of them.

Yes, you can hash out differences, but this can also lead to factionalism and "stuffing the ballot box" at Town Meeting. These are hardly idyllic events.

Most Town Meetings are not particularly well represented and they can be "stuffed" with people who represent only one side of an issue. You can pass "democratic" reforms by essentially blindsiding a truly representative democratic vote. Lot of budget items get passed by groups who come to TM just to pass that one item, their item, and then leave after that vote.

[Adsos Letter]

107. Its relationship to American Transcendentalism?

and its impact on thought and culture in the region?

[cali]

110. interesting idea, and one that I think has a degree of accuracy to it.

[SoCalDem]

108. Lots of colleges?

Money available for services that bolster families?
Cold winters foster reading?

I don't know, but I'm glad they are:)

[Juche]

112. Immigration maybe

I have heard the reason the netherlands is so progressive is they have a long history of trade and immigration with other cultures and people, and that tends to make you less authoritarian and walled off from the world as you are always exposed to new ideas, cultures and people. Supposedly this is also why New Orleans, as a port town, is a bit more progressive than the south as a whole.

But if that were the case I could see Boston and NYC (which isn't part of New England but is near it) being progressive, but it doesn't explain why rural places like Vermont or Maine are progressive.

I really don't know.

[cali]

114. Vermont actually has a long history of being progressive despite it being

a republican stronghold up until the 1970s. In fact, Vermont was both the first sovereign nation and the first state to abolish slavery. (Vermont was an independent republic between 1777 and 1791). The Vermont Constitution written in 1777 prohibited slavery.

[elleng]

115. 'LESS RELIGIOUS'?

What the .... does that mean, who 'knows' this, and how?