As debates over political maps intensify ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, CCPP Director and Owen L. Coon Professor of Policy Analysis and Communication Erik C. Nisbet was featured and quoted in a recent Los Angeles Times article examining the growing trend of mid-decade redistricting efforts in both Republican- and Democratic-led states.
In the article, titled “California’s Proposition 50 puts the state at the center of a new nationwide redistricting push”, Nisbet situates the current wave of redistricting initiatives within a broader pattern of escalating polarization and political tribalism in American politics.
“It is a symptom of this 20-year trend in increasing polarization and political tribalism,” Nisbet told the Los Angeles Times. “And, unfortunately, our tribalism is now breaking out, not only between each other, but it’s breaking out between states.”
Nisbet noted that both major parties are increasingly willing to sacrifice democratic norms and principles of procedural fairness in pursuit of political advantage. “Both sides are prioritizing short-term partisan gain over long-term commitments to representative democracy,” he argued.
The interview underscores a key theme of CCPP research: how the erosion of democratic norms and the rise of “us-versus-them” politics threaten the foundations of American democracy. His remarks reflect CCPP’s ongoing commitment to analyzing how polarized communication shapes democratic governance and citizenship, public attitudes toward science and health, and the spread and belief in dis/misinformation.