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New Support for the Big Sort Hypothesis: An Assessment of Partisan Geographic Sorting in California, 1992–2010

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2013

Jesse Sussell
Jesse Sussell*
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation/Pardee RAND Graduate School
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Abstract

This article empirically examines the “Big Sort hypothesis”—the notion that, in recent years, liberal and conservative Americans have become increasingly spatially isolated from one another. Using block group-, tract-, and county-level party registration data and presidential election returns, I construct two formal indices of segregation for 1992–2010 in California and evaluate those indices for evidence of growth in the segregation of Californians along ideological lines. Evidence of rising geographic segregation between Democrats and Republicans for measures generated from both party registration and presidential vote data is found. This growth is statistically significant for 10 of the 12 segregation measures analyzed. In addition, many of the increases are practically significant, with estimates of growth in segregation during the observation period ranging from 2% to 23%.

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Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , October 2013 , pp. 768 - 773
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2013 

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