Political Polarization v. Median Voter:
Political Scientists traditionally have thought that highly-contested elections tend to moderate politics by inducing politicians, the so-called "median voter theorem." Steven Teles describes some research that suggests that today, by contrast, high competition might instead become turnout battles, suggesting greater, rather than lesser polarization. Among other implications, if the analysis is correct, it suggests that nonpartisan redistricting might do little to solve the problem of political polarization in Congress.