POSC150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Southern Democrats, New Deal Coalition
Document Summary
When there are sharp ideological divides between parties. Back in the 60s there was a lot of overlap between democrats and republicans: 2011-2013 this data is a lot more polarized, the average democrat is more liberal, and vice versa. Why has this polarization increased: redistricting. Define: when state politicians get to draw federal congressional districts. Legally every congressional district has to have the same number of people. How you draw the line can affect who wins the election. Gerrymandering: drawing safe districts for own party. But the senate is just as polarized as the house so gerrymandering doesn"t really have that much of an effect: a divided electorate. Red vs. blue states: 2004 super polarizing, 2012 still quite polarized, but if you break it down by county, it is much different, most states are purple. No states in which everyone is democrat or republican. And voters are moderate even though congress is: a party realignment polarized.
