He claims that Americans have become politically segregated. The effects of this being a lesser ability to govern through compromise.
He claims we've actually migrated to areas where we are surrounded by like minded people, however, seems to me we could just have easily, over time, melded into like minded communities just from hanging around each other. Either way, his proof is in the numbers and locations of landslide election results.
The Big Sort wrote:
Competitive elections provided a more accurate picture of where Republicans and Democrats were living. The 1976 election between President Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter took place at the time after WWII when Americans were most likely to live, work or worship with people who supported a different policital party. Just over 26% of the nation's voters lived in landslide counties.
Then the country began segregating. In 1992, 37.7% of American voters lived in landslide counties. By 2000, that number had risen to 45.3%. There was a difference between the elections prior to 1976 and those that came after. In the polarizing, and close, 1968 elections between Nixon and Humphrey, 37.2% of voters lived in landslide counties. The last five presidential elections have all had a higher percentage of voters living in landslide counties than in 1968. Beginning in 1992, the percentage of people living in landslide counties began an upward, stairstep progression. And by 2004, in one of the closest presidential contests in history, 48.3% of voters lived in communties where the election wasn't close at all.
Then the country began segregating. In 1992, 37.7% of American voters lived in landslide counties. By 2000, that number had risen to 45.3%. There was a difference between the elections prior to 1976 and those that came after. In the polarizing, and close, 1968 elections between Nixon and Humphrey, 37.2% of voters lived in landslide counties. The last five presidential elections have all had a higher percentage of voters living in landslide counties than in 1968. Beginning in 1992, the percentage of people living in landslide counties began an upward, stairstep progression. And by 2004, in one of the closest presidential contests in history, 48.3% of voters lived in communties where the election wasn't close at all.
Are we politically segregated to the point that it's hindering our ability to govern fairly and efficiently?
