Stephen J. (University of Rochester, New York) Kunitz 
Regional Cultures and Mortality in America [PDF ebook] 

Across the contiguous 48 states, populations in states with more activist civic cultures have lower mortality than states that do not follow this model. Several different factors can be pointed to as causes for this discrepancy — net income, class inequality, and the history of settlement in each of the different states and regions. These observations are true of Non-Hispanic Whites and African Americans but not of American Indians, and Hispanics, neither of which is fully integrated into the state political culture and economy in which it resides. In Regional Cultures and Mortality in America, the struggles these various populations face in regard to their health are explored in terms of where they reside.