The Real U.S. Map, a Country of Regions (Part 3): Colin Woodard

When it comes to government and politics, Americans often think of the 50 states as perhaps the most important signifiers of their identities and allegiances.

But, despite the ties that Californians, New Yorkers, Mainers and others hold with the states where they live, work and vote, their regional identities -- as Deep Southerners, Yankees, Far Westerners and so on -- often reveal more about who they are, and sometimes trump any shared sense of U.S. statehood.