Bill Bishop

Take a look around your neighborhood and chances are its inhabitants are probably a lot like you – and not just physically or economically. You probably also share the same values and political beliefs. Bishop, in his engrossing book The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart, argues that Americans are becoming increasingly polarized – not just by red or blue state, but separated down to the community level. "We have built a country where everyone can choose the neighbors (and church and news shows) most compatible with his or her lifestyle and beliefs," Bishop writes. "And we are living with the consequences of this segregation by way of life: pockets of like-minded citizens that have become so ideologically inbred that we don't know, can't understand, and can barely conceive of 'those people' who live just a few miles away." Originally begun as a series of articles for the Austin American-Statesman that Bishop wrote with Robert Cushing, a retired sociologist and statistician from the University of Texas, The Big Sort uses a rich and diverse foundation of information to build its compelling conclusion, including anecdotal examples, history, and a variety of statistical data, such as poll numbers from marketing firms and patent filings. They discovered that in 1976, less than a quarter of Americans lived in places where the presidential election was won by a landslide, but by 2004 nearly half of all voters did. The danger in this segregation is that "heterogeneous communities restrain group excesses,"  Bishop writes. "Homogenous communities march toward the extremes." Eye-opening, thought-provoking, and entertaining, The Big Sort is "essential reading for activists, poli-sci types, journalists and trend watchers," writes Kirkus, in a starred review. The book was also recently endorsed by former President Bill Clinton at the Aspen Ideas Festival, who cautioned his audience about the hazards of succumbing to the political segregation discussed in Bishop's work: "Some of us are going to have to cross the streets, folks," Clinton said.

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At the Festival: The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart

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