Military Bastions are a community type based in areas with large military bases that tend to represent a Federalist agenda. Upon building the Constitution, two groups emerged from the dust with very different ideas on how the country should be run. These groups were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists included James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton; These men believed in a limited, yet strong national government. They wanted to avoid tyranny as best as possible and they believed that checks and balances asserted in the Constitution would stop the negative rise of power. Federalists wanted unity for their people that they did not think was possible under the Articles of Confederation. They believed that the national government should have limited powers directly assigned to it in the Constitution. In Federalist number ten, James Madison speaks to the nature of factions and how rival factions will team up together to promote their own economic and political interests against the good of the whole nation. He states that factions are quite inevitable due to human nature and the constant strive for power but that the damage created by such factions can be eliminated by a strong national Constitution. He goes on in Federalist number fifty-one to describe his potential government’s structure; He says that no one branch should be dependent on another branch and also that one branch should not choose who will be a part of the other two branches. This is where his idea of checks and balances comes into play, he clearly indicates here that the three branches of government will be designed to check the other two and keep a strong balance of the power, the power given to the specific branches by the Constitution. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists believed in stronger state governments. These men consisted of Governor George Clinton, Robert Yates, and Patrick Henry. Anti-Federalists thought that the federal government would be given too much power under the Constitution. They also believed that a strong national government would be too widespread and separated from its peoples. They wanted rulers that were close with their communities in order to account for all of the needs of the people. In Cato III, Governor George Clinton sheds light on the new government and how giving power to the federal government will diminish the liberties and happiness.
According to the data in Our Patchwork Nation, on Military Bastions we know that the people in these areas tend to vote Republican in most recent presidential elections. We also know that the people in these areas are younger, with only a small percentage of older citizens in the community. Average national income tends to be lower than national average, with a high amount of the population between twenty-five thousand to fifty thousand dollars a year and a slightly lower amount of the population making less than twenty-five thousand dollars a year. We also know that immigration in these places is not very elevated compared to some other community types.
Recent Patchwork Nation data shows that the populations in these communities are still majority white districts and have a relatively low amount of an African American population, however the Hispanic population appears to have grown to seventeen percent which is higher than the national average. The recent data on the Patchwork Nation website also illustrates that the gap between the Republican and Democratic vote seems to be shrinking gradually in every presidential election. These communities have a higher than average amount of veterans living in them due to the military bases placed in these areas.
The economies in Military Bastions are linked closely with government spending on military and defense. These communities tend to vote Republican in elections and listen to a fair amount of conservative talk, but the people in these communities also pay close attention to National Public Radio due to its broadcasts on foreign policies and current global events. These global events help shape the atmosphere in Military Bastions because these events could determine whether the soldiers in these communities will get deployed. Foreign policies directly tie to military maneuvers thus relating them closely to military bastions. There is typically a higher percentage of social media use in these areas because the military is so spread out and often includes the separation of families or friends. The people in these communities are younger, giving them an advantage with the use of social media. Another interesting finding in these communities is the higher level of strip clubs geared towards the young soldiers that inhabit the areas. This is interesting because Military Bastions tend to vote for conservative Republicans, but strip clubs are anything but conservative leading one to believe that they are focused less on the conservative ideals that tend to be set forth by Republican politicians but more about the promised government spending by these same politicians.
Because of the high populations of veterans, soldiers, and their families in Military Bastions these are patriotic places. These are the kinds of counties that you drive through and you see the American flag hung on almost every porch or storefront, these are also the counties that will have more support for veterans or billboards advertising the military. These communities have high hopes for our country and believe in the value of our defense. Their chief interests are supporting our troops, veterans and their families. They are also interested in seeing a higher level of government spending on military needs. These communities have large amounts of young families and naturally believe in the importance of family values as well.
Upon studying the demographics and voting patterns for the different community types, Military Bastions, Boom Towns and Emptying Nests appear to be almost identical. In terms of voting and political culture, the three all tend to vote Republican but in recent elections the gap between the two parties has been closing more. The three are of course, all conservative but each one has different reasonings for it. Military Bastions, as we already know, steadily rely off of government funding for defense spending, thus they are conservative because rising defense budgets are typically a part of the Republican agenda. Boom Towns on the other hand vote conservatively more likely because it is the party of family ideals. Boom Towns are the kinds of places that people moved to in the earlier two thousands to build a family in a more structured and secure environment than a city. Emptying Nests tend to vote conservatively based mostly on their own financial concerns, they tend to vote against the Social Welfare promises and programs that are often promised by Democrats. The one thing that these communities have in common is their attitude towards national defense; voting for Bush in two thousand and four shows to be slightly up in each community type. After the events of September eleventh, we see a higher level of voting for Bush in most community types but it elevates at almost the exact same rate in these communities.
The Industrial Metropolis and Monied Burbs community types are probably the least likely to agree with Military Bastions. In terms of demographics, both Military Bastions and Industrial Metropolises have higher levels of young people and families, they both also have similar wage distributions, with Industrial Metropolises having a slightly wealthier population. Monied Burbs have a higher population of older people in their communities than Military Bastions and they also have a much wealthier population. Monied Burbs and Industrial Metropolises have also seen very high levels of immigration in recent years that has not been seen in Military Bastions. Both of these community types have had a decently solid background in voting Democratic in past elections, with Industrial Metropolises having a stronger hold on that vote. Although Military Bastions and Industrial Metropolises both rely heavily on government funding, they rely on different kinds. Military Bastions rely on defense spending and the people of Industrial Metropolises rely on the Social Welfare programs that are often proposed by Democratic politicians. These two communities would have very different ideas on where taxpayers’ dollars should be distributed. Most of the time, the people living in Monied Burbs vote depending on how the economy is holding up and how much money is in their wallet. They are not necessarily fans of excessive government spending because they know that that money comes straight from their pocketbooks as taxpayers.
Military Bastions thrive off of a Federalist agenda based on the fact that military bases are part of the federal government. In order for these bases to conduct their day-to-day practices, employ soldiers, train, and make weaponry they need government funding. Now this might lead someone to ask: “How does the need for government funding automatically make it Federalist?” Well, Federalism is the system with a strong national government that is run off of taxes, the system that is currently used in America. Government spending comes directly from taxpayer dollars, so with that being said, Military Bastions are innately Federalist. Before nineteen forty-two, these communities were largely rural, sparsely populated areas whose economies were run by agricultural trade and manual labor. Seventy-five years later, we see a totally new community type play out- Military Bastions. The strong national government and necessity for national defense (unlike a weak state-run government with a militia defense system imposed by the Anti-Federalist agenda) is what drives this community to succeed.
In studying Military Bastions, I have learned more about a very structured community. It is structured based on its deep military roots and patriotism. The counties that fall into this bracket have high amounts of veterans, soldiers, and young families who rely heavily on defense spending to go about their daily lives. These communities are deeply affected by global and nationwide events because they hold the backbone to our military, our troops. The people in Military Bastions almost always vote conservatively, but it is yet to see if that is going to change in upcoming years.