Ultimately, it's the American people who will have to save the republic, but can we come together? At Nationhood Lab, we found most of us actually DO agree on what America's purpose and values are supposed to be, as I write for Maine's Portland Press Herald: https://www.pressherald.com/2025/04/06/opinion-yes-there-is-still-a-shared-american-story/
Colin Woodard
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Author/journalist/historian. Director, Nationhood Lab, Pell Center; American Nations, American Character, Union. And even a book about pirates.
This morning, at the National Press Club, we released our data-driven common national story for the United States, rooted in the civic ideals in the Declaration. It's widely popular, highly effective, and desperately needed. Details and links to the report here:
https://www.nationhoodlab.org/nationhood-lab-research-finds-most-americans-share-a-common-vision-for-the-united-states/
https://www.nationhoodlab.org/nationhood-lab-research-finds-most-americans-share-a-common-vision-for-the-united-states/
As the economy begins to teeter, we looked at the regional geography of household debt and creditworthiness via the #AmericanNations model. People in the Dixie regions -- where Trump's greatest support lies -- are significantly more vulnerable going into this. (From Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University:)
https://www.nationhoodlab.org/the-geography-of-household-credit-debt-and-delinquency/
Massachusetts North Shore-ians: I'll be speaking at the Gloucester Meeting House this Saturday, Nov. 16 on [gestures furtively in all directions]. Details here:
https://gloucestermeetinghouse.org/event/2024-11-16-us-democracy-in-crisis
Spoke with the NY Times about the origins & meaning of popular US geographical shorthands, from Sun and Rust Belt to Flyover Country. Bottom line: “The actual underlying things that people are trying to describe often don’t match the state boundaries.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/us/elections/election-terms-guide.html
On the eve of a high-stakes election, some analysis of Texas Latinos via the American Nations and More in Common's Threads of Texas, and the implications for politics, courtesy of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center at Salve Regina University: https://www.nationhoodlab.org/texan-political-tribes-and-the-american-nations/
The Washington correspondent of Montreal's La Presse came up to Maine recently and we spoke about the #AmericanNations and their effect on U.S. politics. The resulting feature posted today (en français, bien sûr):
Dossier | L’étoile du Nord américaine (2 articles)
De l’Arizona au Vermont en passant par le Montana, Yves Boisvert a visité pas moins de 20 États américains au cours des six derniers mois. À quelques semaines de l’élection présidentielle, notre chroniqueur revient sur ce qui unit – et désunit – cet incontournable voisin.
NEW: Americans really hate election subversion, even if done by their own party. Results from our Nationhood Lab poll "stress testing" public commitment to liberal democratic values: https://www.nationhoodlab.org/survey-results-americans-overwhelmingly-oppose-election-subversion-aggressive-book-bans-but-split-on-partisan-lines-over-voter-suppression-and-presidents-being-above-law/
(By the way, if you really want to follow me, BlueSky is my primary micro posting home.)
NEW: Americans, regardless of party, really hate public library book banning. Results from our Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center poll "stress testing" public commitment to liberal democratic values: https://www.nationhoodlab.org/survey-results-americans-overwhelmingly-oppose-election-subversion-aggressive-book-bans-but-split-on-partisan-lines-over-voter-suppression-and-presidents-being-above-law/