Using a number of states as case studies, especially in New England. Changing Patterns of Voting in the Northern United States explains why large shifts in voter partisan preferences have occurred since the 1950s in this section of the country.

Changing Patterns of Voting in the Northern United States relies on actual voting data rather than public opinion surveys to study trends among the electorate. This focus on voting statistics allows an in-depth analysis of the many types of voting patterns found in individual states that would not be apparent in national survey data. It allows an alternative explanation for the growth of split-ticket voting.

While many attribute that growth to a decline in party identification, this study suggests that voters may simply identify with one party at the national level and another party in state elections, because the national and state parties are able to present different images to local voters in the federal system we have in this country.