By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday said the court's conservative majority has undermined democracy and "created a race to the bottom" in how congressional districts are drawn.

Kagan, one of the court's ‌three liberals, told students at Catholic University's law school that the conservatives have enabled increased political polarization by not reining ‌in partisan gerrymandering, which involves states redrawing the boundaries of electoral districts based on the partisan leanings of voters to boost a political party's candidates.

In recent years, Kagan ​said, "both political parties have been engaged in a race to the bottom in terms of doing these partisan gerrymanders, effectively depriving masses of citizens of their rights to voting equality."

Partisan gerrymandering is driving political candidates "toward the extremes, because t...