August 2017

In two recent polls by Pew Research Center, partisanship in the United States continues to define us and divide us as a nation. This trend has been with us for almost a decade, and with these two reports, shows no sign of changing.

In a poll released July 10, 2017, the organization found that opinion of national institutions; churches / religious organizations, banks / financial institutions, labor unions, the national news media, and colleges / universities, and the impact they have on the nation differs based on political party. The study, “Sharp Partisan Divisions in Views of National Institutions”, shows significant differences in four of the five areas.

Wide partisan differences over the impact of major institutions on the country

In the second poll, “Partisan Shifts in Views of the Nation, but Overall Opinions Remain Negative; Just 26% say ‘their side’ wins more often than it loses in politics” released August 4, 2017 Pew looks at how people view their station in life and how they view the political landscape for “people like them”. It is interesting to note that with the change of the presidency from Democratic to Republican, the percentage who believes their side loses more also switched. In September, 2015, 79 percent of Republicans felt their side loses more. In June, 2017, 79 percent of Democrats feel that way.

Shifting partisan views on how life has changed for ‘people like you’

Partisanship continues to define and divide us as a nation. Those familiar with this blog know this is not the first Pew Research study I have highlighted. Voter frustration with what has been called “tribal” behavior is manifesting itself by voters abandoning both the Democratic and Republican Party, registering without party affiliation; Non-Partisan in Nevada, or in one of the minor political parties.

I believe the political parties will not willingly make the changes needed to reverse this trend and return to a political climate that fosters collaboration and problem solving, where we track wins or loses not by political party but by impact on Americans. After two attempts to have the Nevada legislature act, I am relatively certain it is the voters who will have to make the change. Nevadans for Election Reform is leading this effort in Nevada.

Can the Democratic and Republican Party in Nevada stop the downward slide in voter share? Looking at the just released voter registration statistics for July, 2017, it does not look like it. The only bright spot for the Republican Party was in the rural counties where they had a slight gain in voter share. Except for that, both the major parties lost voter share across all tracked demographics. As has been the trend, both Non-Partisan and the minor parties gained share.

The bad news does not stop there. For the second consecutive month, the Democratic Party lost voter share in all 21 state senate districts and all but one state assembly district. In the state’s congressional districts, for the first time, both Non-Partisan and minor parties gained voter share in all four districts.

State-Wide

Party	Change in # Voters	% Change	% Voter Share	Difference in Voter Share %
D	1,218	0.21	39.23	-0.08
R	1,574	0.32	33.10	-0.03
NP	1,823	0.59	21.04	0.04
Other	1,340	1.38	6.64	0.06
Total not D or R			27.68	0.10