Also: Artificial Intelligence Regulation and Virginia’s Redistricting Vote

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Edited by Brady Africk and Hannah Bowen

Happy Thursday! In today’s newsletter, we examine changes in socialization trends across American neighborhoods, the politics of artificial intelligence regulation, and the political impacts of Virginia’s redistricting vote.

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1. What Makes a Good Neighbor? ([link removed] )

4.30_Cox ([link removed] )

Topline: The neighborhood is playing a less central role in real-world socialization than ever before. Since the pandemic, social interactions among neighbors have decreased while opportunities for remote work and flexible schedules have increased. As a result, young adults have experienced one of the most rapid declines in neighborhood interaction. Just one in four say they talk with their neighbors regularly—a drop of more than half in just over a decade. AEI’s Daniel A. Cox finds ([link removed] ) that education level, age, and religion each play a role in the degrees and types of neighborly engagement.

Just Being Neighborly: For most young people in the US, being a good neighbor is more about keeping your distance than about engaging with those living nearby. Seventy percent of young adults say that being a good neighbor is about not getting involved in others’ affairs, whereas 57 percent of seniors say the same. Additionally, 54 percent of Americans who attend religious services more than once a week say keeping your distance from others makes you a good neighbor, compared with 73 percent of people who never attend religious services.

A Fenced-Off Outlook: The decline in neighborhood social engagement is likely connected to the weakening of American social life more broadly. Americans have fewer close friends than they once did and spend fewer hours socializing. Although the neighborhood is still an important piece of civic infrastructure, it is playing a smaller role in driving new generations’ values and outlook.

“The neighborhood is still important, but it occupies a less central place than it once did. Young adults have experienced one of the most rapid declines in neighborly interaction—only one in four say they talk with their neighbors regularly, a drop of more than half in just over a decade.”

—Daniel A. Cox ([link removed] )

More on Neighbors
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2. Public Trust in Regulating AI ([link removed] )

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Topline: Recent acts of violence against CEOs and politicians involved in developing artificial intelligence have highlighted a dark form of anti-technology politics. These technophobic actions are often referred to as Luddism, based on a movement that emerged in 19th-century England. However, as AEI’s Will Rinehart asserts ([link removed] ) , modern anti-tech extremists do not suffer from the same political exclusion the Luddites faced: State legislators targeting AI have introduced more than 1,500 bills.

Regulation Anxiety: Historically, Luddism emerged when ordinary workers felt excluded from the institutions that were regulating and remaking their lives. The government had effectively outlawed wage negotiation, and sabotage was the desperate response. But the US has political channels that the Luddites lacked—including legislatures, courts, and federal and state agencies—to deal with the regulation issues surrounding AI.

Proof of Regulation: AI policy is still developing, but the technology is far from unregulated, with state legislators alone having introduced more than 1,000 bills. The question is whether this technological era will be governed through bans and policies that slowly progress or through updated laws with targeted rules that allow helpful innovation to continue.

“The Luddites don’t deserve today’s mockery. They were locked out of politics and responded in the only manner available to them. American citizens are not locked out. The U.S. has the tools to absorb change, contest its terms and shape what comes next.”

—Will Rinehart ([link removed] )

More on Artificial Intelligence
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3. Virginia’s Gerrymander Gamble ([link removed] )

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Topline: Last week, voters in Virginia approved a congressional map proposal ([link removed] ) that could eliminate up to four GOP congressional seats. AEI’s Matthew Continetti argues ([link removed] ) that while Democrats are currently winning Virginia’s gerrymander battle, they are losing a larger fight for elections by ignoring the causes of their shrinking base.

Redistricting Ridiculousness: State legislators usually redraw maps after the census that occurs every 10 years, but in 2025, Texas voted for mid-decade redistricting, setting off a cascade of similar efforts across the country. Now, Virginia’s map will cancel the effects of Republican redistricting in Ohio, Missouri, and North Carolina. But gerrymandering only evades real voting trends. People vote with their feet—in 2025, eight of the 10 fastest-growing states had Republican governors, and nine of these states had GOP legislative control. On the other hand, nine of the 10 states that lost the most population were run by Democrats.

A Temporary Solution: Success in the 2026 midterms will be temporary if the Democrats do not adjust the elements of their governance and policies that are alienating voters and pushing them to move to Republican-run states. One projection ([link removed] ) has California and New York losing a combined six House seats after the 2030 census, with Texas and Florida gaining eight total. Gerrymandering may produce Democratic victories, but the party’s base is still shrinking.

“Democrats haven’t fixed these problems. Instead they’ve doubled down. That might win elections in an anti-Trump environment. But it won’t save the Democrats from their own failures—or from the future.”

—Matthew Continetti ([link removed] )

More on Gerrymandering
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Dive into More Data

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Homeownership Rates ([link removed] )

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4.30_Cooper ([link removed] )

Consumer Protection in Higher Education ([link removed] )

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Special thanks to Drew Kirkpatrick, Rosalie Blacklock, and Henry Long.

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