The Plains Political Tradition

Book excerpt: South Dakota is often thought of as a conservative or red state, but its political culture is much more variegated and unpredictable than such color-coded references might imply. The state contains its own geographic variations and political subcultures. The first volume illustrated the complex nature of state politics and cyclical change over time, and this new group of essays concentrates on some of the unpredictability and contradictoriness of the state and its citizens. The editors have brought together ten essays on a diverse number of topics to consider the state's underlying political culture. Contributors deliberate over such topics as the influence of political organizations, conservatism, patriotism, leadership, local and national political culture, people's movements, and cowboy politics in an effort to develop a fuller sense of where South Dakota fits into the growing study of modern political culture.