Dunaway Quoted in Bloomberg Article on Political Independents and Partisanship

February 23, 2026

Bloomberg

Johanna Dunaway

Political Science Department

Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship

Government

Political Parties

U.S. Elections

United States

Bloomberg

Johanna Dunaway

A record 45% of U.S. adults now identify as political independents, but their departure from the two major parties is paradoxically fueling the very partisanship driving them away. As parties have weakened—losing control over primaries, fundraising and candidate recruitment — more ideologically extreme candidates have flourished.

“They're definitely related,” says Johanna Dunaway, professor of political science and research director of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship. “Probably the biggest reason - I think it's the loss of strong control over who runs in the primary.”

She adds: “Because the parties are weaker, when candidates run, they don't anymore try to please the party and to stay in good graces with the party, because the party can't give them as much as they used to in terms of helping of helping forward their political careers.”

Read more in the Bloomberg (via the Miami Herald) article, “David M. Drucker: All these new independents are making politics more partisan.”