The measurement of partisan sorting for 180 million voters

Enos and Brown find that voters in US are highly spatially segregated by party. Republicans and Democrats tend to segregate even when living in the same neighbourhoods, and this segregation persists in both urban and rural areas. Segregation across social groups is an enduring feature of nearly all human societies and is associated with numerous social maladies. In many countries, reports of growing geographic political polarization raise concerns about the stability of democratic governance. Here, using advances in spatial data computation, we measure individual partisan segregation by calculating the local residential segregation of every registered voter in the United States, creating a spatially weighted measure for more than 180 million individuals. With these data, we present evidence of extensive partisan segregation in the country. A large proportion of voters live with virtually no exposure to voters from the other party in their residential environment. Such high levels of partisan isolation can be found across a range of places and densities and are distinct from racial and ethnic segregation. Moreover, Democrats and Republicans living in the same city, or even the same neighbourhood, are segregated by party.

Automated summary

Enos and Brown found that voters in the US are highly spatially segregated by party, even when living in the same neighborhoods. This segregation is persistent in both urban and rural areas and is distinct from racial and ethnic segregation. The extensive partisan segregation in the country raises concerns about the stability of democratic governance.