Well now I need to defend a point I really didn't like!
Regional identity itself is not restricted by political influence of course. As we are biologically wired to care more about pople in your local area and form more bonds.
But, vast territories are the enemy of democracy.
We need to be wary of the tyranny of the masses in overpowering minority opinion. Issues simply do not have the same dynamic across all regions and across all interests. Even with agriculture, yes these areas will have smaller population, but the issues key to their interests and very livelihood may not even be considered as worth while issues to the urban centers.
Living in rural/underpopulated areas has nothing to do with being part of a minority interest group that might be oppressed by the majority. Overrepresenting certain geographically underpopulated areas thus does nothing to block real majority tyranny. The overrepresented groups and the oppressed groups do not correlate, certainly not in the US, and not generally worldwide, either.
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