realigns

Realigns is the third-person singular present tense of the verb realign. Realign, in turn, means to change the alignment of something—its placement, orientation, or alliances. The term is used in several domains, but is most prominent in political science, where realigns describes durable shifts in the patterns of political support, party organization, and policy emphasis. A realignment usually involves a reorganization of coalitions and voter loyalties that persists across multiple elections, producing a new stable configuration of political competition. Realigns are often linked to broader social, economic, or demographic changes, as well as to strategic actions by parties or institutions. They can follow critical or realigning elections, after which the party system jettisons old alignments in favor of new ones.

In practice, realignments unfold over years or decades and are not guaranteed after every election. They are analyzed through criteria such as enduring changes in party coalitions, geographic realignment, and the emergence or decline of major political issues. In the United States, commonly cited realignments include the Civil War era (1860s) and Reconstruction, the New Deal era (1930s) with the Democratic coalition, and the late 1960s and 1970s, when southern white voters shifted toward the Republican Party and urban and minority groups realigned as well. In parliamentary systems, realignments can reflect the rise of new parties or the reconfiguration of blocs within coalitions. Outside politics, the term also describes organizational or strategic reorganizations that realign resources, roles, and objectives to a new plan or environment.