Political scientists: Iowa should remain first

According to a new study, Iowa reflects the diversity of America more than any other state and, as such, deserves its status as first-in-the-nation.

The research was presented in an article by political scientists Peverill Squire of the University of Missouri and Michael Lewis-Beck of the University of Iowa. It appeared in the January issue of Political Science & Politics, a journal of the American Political Science Association.

The authors looked at whether or not Iowa is truly representative of the U.S. The two note that in terms of location, size and 1846 accession into the Union, Iowa is roughly the midpoint of all states. They also examined “an extensive battery of state-level socioeconomic and political measures… [to] uncover their underlying patterns.”

Their findings in three key areas of economics, diversity and social problems show that the overwhelming majority (39 of 51) were typical of the broader U.S. population, or within one step from the national average. They conclude that “Iowa is a reasonably representative state,” and that “all things considered, there seems to be no cause to take away Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential status.”

Is Iowa representative? Yes, at least reasonably so. And when it is not, that is often because it boasts a superior performance socially (e.g., educational attainment) or politically (e.g., voting turnout). Further, with respect to other social goods, it might be mentioned that the politics of Iowa is well known to be corruption free. If indicators on corruption had been included in our analysis, they would be expected to boost its ranking higher. With respect to the leading dimension of economic conditions, which we did measure, Iowa is unambiguously the most representative state in the country. In addition, its geographic and historic centrality, commented on initially, should not be forgotten.

“If one state must hold this position,” the scientists argue, “then it is hard to make a better pick.”