Policy and a Pint: Discuss "The Big Sort"

'Are we subconsciously or deliberately drifting towards other like-minded people, or is this simply a fresh realization of how people have always lived?'

Yes we are Julia living in clusters, and in communities that have many others of folks that we think to be like minded.

'Do these communities change the nation?'

I really don't think so, however, I do understand that the folks that are more liberal seem to live together, and the more conservative folks that are also of a similar religion seem to live in communities together.

For example, we’re where we are now in St. Cloud because my ex wife is a Lutheran and this is a large Lutheran community.

However, me? You could forget that. Because I’ve known way too many Jewish and Homosexual folk and have been friends with way too many of them, and I even understand the quite Liberal Neo-Con community and agree with their primary purposes so forget it. I fit better in the LA community than here in St. Cloud, but even so, that is not to say that I don’t like it here in St. Cloud for I do. How could someone that was raised in the Congressional faith not.

I have no idea, other than how they vote collectively in elections, what any of my neighbors are like.

With so many gated communities, neighborhood associations, and such, it's no wonder that our clusters of neighbors are homogenous, bordering myopic, (dare I say phobic?) dwellings.

Taken on an individual basis, there's variety, but stepping back to bird's eye level, there's little mix.

Do you live amongst like-minded people? How does that affect the rest of the country?

I think your questions assume that we know our neighbors, or at least think we do, which it seems to me is not always true.

I think your questions assume that we know our neighbors, or at least think we do, which it seems to me is not always true.

This is one of the aspects of Bill Bishop's whole thesis that I feel like we didn't delve into enough on Thursday night. Do we have to be out there talking with our neighbors in the grocery store in order for our ideological homogeneity to really make a difference regarding the overall national political discussion? In Bishop's book, his point is that we don't. Put simply, when we live in ideological clusters, we vote in ideological clusters -- and so, we elect representatives who are just as doctrinare as we are. In order for those folks to keep their seat on the school board / in the state house / in Washington, they have to make us happy. Ergo: legislative deadlock.

What do you guys think about this thesis? Is it that simple?

In the 2006 state legislature elections, several suburban areas (i.e. Washington and Dakota Counties) that were previously represented by Republicans elected Democrats. It makes me wonder if the ideological homogeneity described by Bishop is quite as deep in many areas of Minnesota, or whether it is often just a slim majority that can shift with the political winds.