• Meartz, Paul D. 1989. "Cultural Factors in the December 5, 1989 Referendums in North Dakota." Paper presented at the Association of North Dakota Geographers Meeting, Mayville, North Dakota, December 9.

Paul D. Meartz [Mayville State University]

Paper Presented at the Association of North Dakota Geographers Fall meeting at Mayville, North Dakota, December 9, 1989

Note: Figures 1, 2 and 3 are at the end of the text section of this paper.

The political dispute between the eastern and western regions of North Dakota has existed since the early years of statehood (Tweton, 1958: 21). It continued to be an important part of the state's political scene (Fargo Forum, 1987; Omdahl, 1987; Pedeliski, n.d.). This paper will explore the cultural implications behind the east-west split using two referendums from the December 5, 1989 ballot.

The east-west division has received the passing attention of scholars over the years (Robinson, 1966: 558; Tweton, 1958: but the recent work of Pedeliski et al. n.d.) has provided important insights. Studying the voting patterns in recent North Dakota balloting involving initiatives and referendums, it was found that east-west location was a significant factor, although incomplete in explanatory power, where politicized initiatives and referendums involving government authority and fiscal policy were concerned Pedeliski et al., n. d.: 16). Location was not a factor when the issues involved low visibility before the voters, localized support for colleges, or morality (Pedeliski et al., n.d.: 15-17). After finding that social-economic variables had limited to no significance in explaining variation in voting patterns between the eastern and western portions elf the state, they concluded that there seemed to be a cultural basis to the division.

German-Russians

The German-Russian people provide an important link in understanding the cultural pattern in North Dakota and may be the key to understanding the political cultural landscape. They are the dominant ethnic group in twenty-two central counties (Chang in Berg, 1983: 13). Must of these counties would be considered western (see Figure 3). Thus their cultural background and dominant position in North Dakota's central region likely make them an important determinant of North Dakota's western viewpoint. Parts of the later analysis assume that this dominance exists.

The German-Russian underwent a series of experiences in moving to North Dakota which have influenced the group's cultural orientation toward politics. The original location of these people was generally in southwestern Germany, especially Wurttemberg (Schock 1964: 21, 31). Important factors fostering migration were warfare, draft avoidance, and economic problems related to crop failures and crowded conditions (Schock, 1964: 19 -250. Migrants Left these conditions at the invitation of several Russian monarchs, after 1762, who were willing to offer good terms to German immigrants willing to settle in open areas mainly along the Volga River and Black Sea. The century-later immigrants, who would move to North Dakota, would generally have been members of the Black: Sea set of colonies (Schock, 1964: 116). In South Russia, Schock:: pictured the German-Russians as successful farmers, living in villages which were quite independent of each other, and bothered by the lack of security (1964: 38-43). The Germans resisted "Russianization" and developed a distrustful view of government, based upon experiences with the Russian government and its officials (Robinson, 1966: 284 -288). Transferring these dispositions to North Dakota, including a stop in South Dakota for some (Hudson 1976: 246), the German-Russians settled in isolated parts of the state. They can be seen as having isolation because the distrust of government established within the group.. It also would match the group's tendency to show independence (Schock, 1964: 139-142).

In discussing the political behavior of German-Russians in the United States, Sallet noted that the German-Russians were not socialists (Sallet, 1974: 97). This gives the suggestion of an individualistic character. Also, German-Russians have been identified as being "rarely found in public affairs" and "very active" in politics, the difference likely being one of timing based upon the slowness in "Americanization'' (Joachim, 1939: 26; Sallet, 1974: 95). Joachim found that they avoided certain occupations--police, lawyer, etc.--because of their distaste for those who occupied these posts in Russia (1939: 9). He also noted a tendency for German-Russians to limit their public expression because of the suppression of their opinions under Russian rule (1939: 18). Sallet noted a tendency of German-Russians to establish themselves in local politics before moving to state offices (:1974: 95).

These factors fit well into Elazar's conception of "individualistic political culture," in which government should operate only as an adjunct to private activity (1966: 86-87; also see Pedeliski, n.d.: 10-11). Individualistic, private concerns should be dominant.. The individualism, lack of socialist interest, and limitations on public activity support the claim of the existence of individualistic culture. These are not people culturally trained to openly push for government action or to expect government action to benefit them. Political officeholders are seen as businessmen in a public sense, rather than servants. This would fit with the German-Russian view of Russian bureaucrats. Also, the settlement pathway of German-Russians took them through southeastern South Dakota where individualistic political culture is dominant (Hudson, 1976: 246; Elazar, 1966: 97).

There is also some support for identification with "moralistic political culture," defined as a culture in which individualism is limited by beliefs that community activity is acceptable when necessary and that service to the public properly defines a politician's role (Elazar, 1966: 90-91). Dorf (village) activity In Russia was communal to a partial degree, particularly where fieldwork and construction were concerned (Schock, 1964: 47), and some cultural ability to recognize the "good" of communal activity may have existed in immigrants to North Dakota. However, the settlement pattern in the United States was characterized by isolated farmsteads, and the communal village was found only among specialized religious communities (Schock:, 1964: 90).

The toughness of life on the Drift Prairie and places west should only have served to support these positions. Economic life, and its social and political consequences, has been hard far settlers In the area dominated by the German-Russians. The depression years and the post oil-boom years of the 1980's have been difficult (Meartz, 1987, 1989). Thus, the German-Russian component of the state would seem to possess an individualistic political culture, with some possible moralistic tendencies.

The 1989 Referendums

The 1989 referendums should allow us to observe the east-west division and the German-Russian cultural variable at work in North Dakota politics. The referendums dealing with the income tax raise and seatbelt use will be used in the following analysis (data from Fargo Forum,, 1989: A8). The mapped distribution of each vote, divided into quartiles of the range, will be examined for east-west related effects. A correlation analysis, using miles from the Red River to the southeast corner of each county as a measure of western position, will be performed to determine the validity of the visual analysis.

The income tax referendum displays a decided western bias (see Figure 1). While two islands elf high negative voting are found in the center of the state, the east-west nature of the voting is obvious. A correlation analysis indicated the relationship was significant (r=.820, t=10.2, df 51, significant at the .001 level In a two-tailed test).

The voting pattern on the seatbelt issue Is not identical to that of the income tax vote (see Figure 2:,. The center of the state joins, select western counties in the highest quartile of negative voting. A correlation analysis indicated the relationship of voting negatively on the seatbelt referendum to distance west was significant (r=.645, t=6.02 df 51, significant at the .001 level in a two-tailed test).

Thus, the east-west split was present in the referendum voting, but the two measures examined here displayed different patterns. This suggests that even within the government authority-fiscal policy factor, the types of referendums and initiatives noted by Pedeliski et al. (n.d.: 16) as relative to the east-west split, the patterns of voting can vary.

If this split reflects the existence of a cultural divide, then some relationship of the voting patterns to other measurable, cultural features should exist. The seatbelt issue involved government authority, while the income tax issue involved fiscal policy. If it is assumed that government authority issues should reflect cultural dispositions more than fiscal policy issues, as they represent factors more related to basic political-cultural drives, then the pattern of voting on the seatbelt referendum should better align with cultural patterns than that of the voting on the Income tax raise.

This will be tested by two means. given that the German-Russian distribution is focused on the triangle in the center of the state, the correlation coefficient of the vote on the income tax raise with miles west should be higher than the coefficient of the seatbelt vote with miles west. The authority issue involved in the argument over loss of freedom in wearing seatbelts should make negative voting more likely in the German-Russian areas of the state. Second, the number of German-Russians in a county should correlated better with the pattern of voting on the seatbelt issue than on the income tax raise. The German-Russian cultural heritage should be a factor in assessing the importance of the loss of freedom associated with this referendum.

The results support the contention that the cultural variable is visible in these referendums. First, the east-west importance of the tax measure exceeds the seatbelt issue (Tax: r = .820 versus Seatbelts r = .645). Second, the authority issue's significance for German-Russian voters is suggested by the slightly larger coefficient for the seatbelt versus the tax raise, when compared with the number of rural German-Russians from the Black Sea in 1965 (Sherman, 1983:131; Tax r = .418, t = 3.28, df 51, significant at .01 level in a two-tailed test; Seatbelt r = .516, t = 4.29, df 51, significant at the .001 level in two-tailed test). This confirms the visual pattern (see Figures 2 and 3). There is a suggestion of the German-Russian Triangle in the pattern of the results of voting on seatbelt use.. Burleigh and Stutsman counties, with larger communities of other peoples, make important but understandable, exceptions to the triangle pattern. The western voter joined those in the German-Russian counties in rejecting seatbelt use laws.

Thus the existence of a cultural factor. focused on the German-Russian people's cultural background, is suggested in the voting patterns of the December 5, 1989 balloting. Caution must be expressed over the use of these aggregate figures in association with the behavior of specific groups such as the German--Russians. The dominance of the German-Russian in the triangle area, however, modifies the usual provisions against this form of analysis because the group's dominance should force others to adjust to it over time. If that cultural dominance is assumed, then the cultural factor was displayed in the data.

Maps

Figure 1. Percentage Voting No on Income Tax Referendum, December 5, 1989
Data Source: Fargo Forum, 1989: A8

Figure 2. Percentage Voting No on Seatbelt Referendum, December 5, 1989
Data Source: Fargo Forum, 1989: A8

Ficure 3. Distribution of German-Russians (Black Sea) in Rural North Dakota in 1965
Data Source: Sherman, 1983: 131