Decline Of Political Polarization

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Political polarization has been increasing for decades, and public trust in institutions and between individuals has declined as well. Increased polarization is one of the most widely discussed changes in American politics over the past four decades (Jones, 2015, 375). Research on the effects of polarization and studying why polarization occurs has been done, especially now more than ever. In a study by Pew Research Center, Americans who express consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions have doubled—from ten percent to twenty-one percent (Pew Research Center 2014). The ideological overlap between political parties has diminished, leading to increased polarization. The survey found that ninety-two percent of Republicans are …show more content…
The. Political trust has also declined in recent years, creating difficulties within our political system. Polarization affects the trust. When partisan differences are greater, trust is lower (Hetherington 2015, 552). Government performance suffers when this happens because it makes it harder to make political institutions work, and because “contentious political processes that Americans do not like are on full display” (Hetherington 2015, 453). Times of high polarization are characterized by an angry public, people distasteful towards government processes, which makes them trust government less (Hetherington 2015, 453). In addition, when people do not like something, they tend to not trust it (Hetherington 2015, 453). This goes for political parties as well: when one political party holds negative views on their opponents, they are not going to trust them. The Role of Media Individuals learn about elite partisan polarization and politics through media reports, and elite partisan polarization has reshaped American politics (Robinson & Mullinix 2015, 275). Polarization over the last few decades can be seen at the elite level, along with ordinary voters, but the media is frequently blamed for the cause of polarization (Wolfson 2006, …show more content…
“Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 31, no. 2 (2017): 211–235. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44235006. Brady, Henry E., and Thomas B. Kent. “Fifty Years of Declining Confidence & Increasing Polarization in Trust in American Institutions.” Daedalus 151, no. 4 (2022): 43–66. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48696773.html. Hetherington, Marc. A. & Co. "Why Polarized Trust Matters" Forum 13, no. 3 (2015): 445-458. https://doi.org/10.1515/for-2015-0030 Jones, R., David. 2015. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary “Declining Trust in Congress: Effects of Polarization and Consequences for Democracy.” The Forum 13 no. 3 (2015): 375-394. doi.org/10.1515/for-2015-0027 Kalmoe, Nathan P., and Lilliana Mason. Radical American Partisanship: Mapping Violent Hostility, It’s Causes, and the Consequences of Democracy. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2022. Lee, Amber Hye-Yon. “Social Trust in Polarized Times: How Perceptions of Political Polarization Affect Americans’ Trust in Each Other.” Political Behavior 44, no. 3 (March 18, 2022): 1533–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09787-1. Levendusky, Matthew S. “Why Do Partisan Media Polarize Viewers?” American Journal of Political Science 57, no. 1 (September, 2007). 3 (2013): 611–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23496642.html. Lupu, Noam. A. “Party Polarization and Mass
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