A new survey on civic life in Louisiana has found that while Louisianians are more interested in politics than the rest of the country, they are less politically polarized.
The Louisiana Common Ground Survey was published Wednesday by the LSU Reilly Center for Public Affairs and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a nonprofit good governance organization.
“These findings show that Louisianans can disagree on politics while still sharing important democratic values,” PAR president Steven Procopio said. “That broad commitment to free speech, equal opportunity and constitutional principles creates space for more constructive debate and cooperation.”
Nearly half of Louisianians reported being very or extremely interested in politics, a significant gap from the 28% nationwide found in a 2023 Pew survey. Over half of all respondents said they discuss government and politics several times a week or nearly every day, compared to 45% nationwide.
“It’s said that all politics is local, and Louisianans not only understand that mantra but live by it, comfortably talking to people they politically disagree with, while steering clear of such talk on social media,” said LSU Reilly Center Director Michael DiResto.
The survey found that while 70% have had a real-life conversation in the last month with someone with different political views from their own, only 8% frequently post about politics on social media, which the report identified as a possible sign of civic health.
Researchers also found that Louisianians have a high opinion of democratic norms, with 91% of respondents saying they believe in equal free speech rights, regardless of political beliefs, and 70% saying they believe political violence is never justified. Also, 92% of Louisianians reported they believed individuals deserve an equal opportunity to succeed regardless of race or ethnicity.
In addition, The results show 81% of Louisiana residents want their elected officials to find common ground with public officials of the opposing party.
The researchers also measured polarization, the gap between how positively an individual feels about their own party versus how negatively they feel about the opposing party.
On a scale of 0-100, Louisiana’s polarization rate is 48.2, compared to 49.9 nationwide. But when pollsters asked individuals to imagine a person respondents know that belongs to the opposing party, the state’s polarization score dropped to 38.
The survey also revealed Louisianians’ trust in institutions is low. Survey respondents said their trust in scientists, universities, state, local and federal government, courts and news organizations fell between “not much” and a “fair amount.” Only hospitals and doctors were ranked between a “fair amount” and a “great deal.”
The most common news sources for Louisianians is local television news and friends and family and the most commonly used social media site is Facebook, the survey found.
LSU policy researchers conducted the poll from Nov. 29 through March 2 and surveyed 1,046 adults in Louisiana. It has a margin of error of 3.4%.
Originally published on lailluminator.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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