Critical Analysis

1. What is the big story this data tells?

2. Why do you think that is?

3. What is one political consequence of this data?

4. What has happened to the number of solidly Democratic states over the past 10 years?

5. Why do you think that is?

6. Post Trump and Trumpism how do you think the chart above will look different when updated for 2021?

7. Based on the table, how has the number of solidly Republican (red) states changed over the past decade?

8. How many competitive (purple) states are there?

9. If the number of competitive states increases, explain what will probably happen to U.S. Senate elections.

10. Explain whether the growth of competitive states will have the same impact On U.S. House elections.

11. Describe the redness/blueness/purpleness of your state, district, and neighborhood.

12. In the past, neighborhoods and cities were full of both Republicans and Democrats. Demographers tell us that we are becoming more likely to live in communities or neighborhoods of similar party affiliation. How will this impact the data in the table and how will that influence American politics?

13. Explain how the number of competitive states impacts presidential elections?

14. Explain how Trump and Trumpism will impact political polarization in the U.S.

Learning Extension

Read the Gallup report on states and party affiliation.

Action Extension

Find out about the political party affiliation of U.S. Senators and see if they roughly match the data from the table. Contact any Senators who do not reflect their state's political party affiliation and ask them to move to another state or resign from the Senate.

Visual Extension*

Pro Tip: Don’t be racist!