In English class I read an article that was arguing that increased mobility in the United States was leading to further political fragmentation and and division. Basically, the idea was that after college people move to areas with lifestyles and views that they like more, and that as a result some areas are becoming super liberal while others are becoming more conservative.
It was backed up by data about how elections used to be closer on the district-by-district level, and that people could reasonably expect that their next door neighbors might have a different political opinion than each other.
The scariest part about the article was when it stated that, when you get a group of somewhat ideologically homogenous people together, rather than tending towards the center of the group, they tend towards a more extreme version of the group’s beliefs.
It seems like the internet would have a similar effect, on a finer scale. Rather than packaged ideologies being reinforced, it seems easier to reinforce things on an idea-by-idea level.
elections used to be closer on the district-by-district level
Alternate explanation for part of this effect: the losers in gerrymandering will lose whatever barely-dominant districts they had, in exchanges for a mix of fewer strongly dominant (nearly unanimous) ones, and barely-losing (45%-55%) ones.
In English class I read an article that was arguing that increased mobility in the United States was leading to further political fragmentation and and division. Basically, the idea was that after college people move to areas with lifestyles and views that they like more, and that as a result some areas are becoming super liberal while others are becoming more conservative.
It was backed up by data about how elections used to be closer on the district-by-district level, and that people could reasonably expect that their next door neighbors might have a different political opinion than each other.
The scariest part about the article was when it stated that, when you get a group of somewhat ideologically homogenous people together, rather than tending towards the center of the group, they tend towards a more extreme version of the group’s beliefs.
It seems like the internet would have a similar effect, on a finer scale. Rather than packaged ideologies being reinforced, it seems easier to reinforce things on an idea-by-idea level.
Alternate explanation for part of this effect: the losers in gerrymandering will lose whatever barely-dominant districts they had, in exchanges for a mix of fewer strongly dominant (nearly unanimous) ones, and barely-losing (45%-55%) ones.
Somewhat related: an excellent book on this phenomenon is The Big Sort.