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It is hard to miss the rural-urban divide in the primaries earlier this year and now in the general election, with the media focusing on which candidate has the upper hand in one location or the other. This geographic dichotomy has political currency, but does campaign rhetoric make good policy? As with most simplistic classifications, splitting the nation into two parts belies the complexity, nuances and diversity in the real world. The extremes are easy to identify, with small New England and Midwestern settlements surrounded by farms at one end, and Manhattan and the Loop in Chicago at the other. The boundaries between the two worlds, however, are fuzzy in many situations. Where does one place the exurbs, those hinterland areas that are a long commute away from but still tied to urban jobs? Internal variations are also pronounced. The urban domain encompasses cities and suburbs, and the rural domain includes villages and small cities. Despite a lack of precision, the rural-urban reductionism has implications, and we can dissect the political discourse from different angles.

The first is to recognize that politicians and parties use the terms to acknowledge and bond with key constituencies. DNC's platform, for example, has sections entitled "Metropolitan and Urban Policy" and "Real Leadership for Rural America," and Obama's acceptance speech includes the phrase "cities to rebuild, and farms to save". Republicans also take a similar tack, when they pledge to take "a business-like, cost-effective approach for infrastructure spending, always mindful of the special needs of both rural and urban communities." Geographic name-dropping is good politics to rally loyal followers and to erode the opponent's base. It could also be good policy because the jockeying maintains a balance, precluding government from being overly one-sided. Both parties talk about the need to include both urban and rural in national policies and programs, as exemplified by the Republican's statement that "Gang violence is a growing problem, not only in urban areas but in many suburbs and rural communities."

Political discourse takes on more substance when it focuses on the concerns, problems and potentials unique to each. Rural is closely tied to agriculture. Democrats promise to provide “a strong safety net for family farms, a permanent disaster relief program, expansion of agriculture research and an emphasis on agricultural trade,” while the Republicans counter with a commitment to fight “any restrictions upon our farm products within the World Trade Organization.” A shared concern for rural America’s economic backbone, but different strategies rooted in one party’s belief in government’s constructive potentials and the other’s fear of destructive intrusions into the market. There is no equivalent to the agriculture-rural nexus for urban areas because cities and metropolitan areas are incredibly diverse in terms of an economic base – traditional manufacturing, high-tech, service, finance, etc. What urban areas share in common, albeit at different intensity, are the unavoidable consequences of higher density and large population size. One visible and highly aggravating manifestation is traffic congestion, and both Democrats and Republicans support mass transit and improve transportation infrastructure. What is unknown but will differentiate the two parties is how to finance such an agenda, an important question given that the existing tax system is failing to keep up with changing realities.

Reifying the rural-urban paradigm runs the danger of missing commonalties and crosscutting ties. Regardless of location, rural American and urban American share many priorities over the next few years, whether it is solving the current economic meltdown, enhancing national security or improving public education. People differ on policy approaches, but this divergence is more rooted in ideology than simple geography. Moreover, the viability of one sector affects the well-being of the other sector. A major challenge for the next president is uniting the nation after a bitter contest, and this includes politically bridging the two geographic entities. Good public policy should address unique problems and opportunities in each, but should not unfairly privilege one at the expense of the other.

Before signing off, I want to add a last-minute tangent to this post. Analysis of the rural-urban divide yields a broader lesson because the geographic split is analogous to other potentially deep divisions in our society, including those defined by race, nativity, gender, religion, and other social and cultural lines. The presidential contest is taking a nasty turn, with specious claims of being the “real America” and unfounded charges of being “un-American.” The challenge of the 21^st Century is managing diversity, building on its strengths and avoiding needless conflicts. The struggle to achieve this balance must be a national goal.

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