Political Polarization

Words: 1604
Pages: 7
Open Document
The significant increase in political polarization in recent years has negatively impacted today’s society. These impacts are not limited to overarching political issues but have unexpectedly invaded our most personal relationships. This paper will present available statistics to identify the increased political polarization and analyze how this increased tension has affected society and our personal relationships. The current polarization of conservative and liberal political groups can first be shown by examining the news sources used by each of these groups. According to the Pew Research Center’s “Political Polarization & Media Habits” article, conservatives and liberals do not use the same new sources for news about government …show more content…
But even something as simple as a news source can impact personal aspects of society and even relationships. The same article also examined how political views impact online relationships on Facebook. The Pew Research Center found that conservatives are more likely than those in any other ideological groups to see political opinions that are in line with their own views on Facebook. They are also more likely to have friends who share their own political views. About 66% of conservatives state that the majority of their close friends share the same views as them on government and politics. Ironically, liberals, who tend to promote their openness and acceptance of diversity, are more likely than those in any other ideological groups to block or “unfriend” someone on a social network, as well as to end a personal friendship because of different political views. Around four in ten (44%) of consistent liberals say that they have unfriended or blocked someone on social media because they disagreed with something that person posted about politics. Only around 31% of consistent conservatives and only 26% of all Facebook users have done the same. Similarly, consistent liberals are more likely to stop talking to someone because of politics. Around a quarter (24%) of consistent liberals have done this while only 16% of consistent conservatives and roughly 10% of …show more content…
McCormick explained that although she knew her husband was a republican, she never thought of leaving him before then. She described his want for Donald Trump to become president as a “deal breaker”. “It’s causing tensions that I’ve not heard about in past elections” a family social science professor at the University of Minnesota named Bill Doherty even stated. Statistics also back up claims that political arguments between family and friends have gone up since the election of Donald Trump. The Reuters/Ipos poll polled 6,426 people from December 27, 2016 to January 18, 2017, to examine political fights between family and friends before, during, and after the election. This poll showed that pre-election only 33% of respondents said they argued with family and friends over politics, but, at the height of the campaign in October, it was shown that this number increased by 6% now showing the percentage of people to have political arguments with family and friends to be 39%. This poll also showed that around 16% of their respondents had stopped communication with a friend or family member because of the 2016 election, which is much higher than the pre-election percentage of 15%. For Hillary Clinton voters, the number got even higher, around 22% of those who voted for her said they had stopped
Show More

Related Documents: Political Polarization

Decline Of Political Polarization

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…

Words 1861 - Pages 8

Political Polarization In Congress

American politics in this era is whether our divided political system can function in times of stress” (Ezra Klein). Our political system is comprised of two parties with opposite views on important topics. When the representatives of these parties experience more constraint to vote towards their parties stance on issues they are less likely to compromise and therefore get less accomplished. This is called political polarization. Political polarization is the cause of reoccurring stalemates, numerous…

Words 1008 - Pages 5

Political Polarization In The United States

In political polarization, beliefs are moving beyond the center of attention and toward extreme ideologies. It happens when segments of society start to have progressively different opinions on political parties, party members, and their philosophies and programs. Despite their continued disagreement, the parties never again resorted to bloody factionalism as they had in the past. Conflicts were settled and compromise was common. Even genuine public support for third parties started to arise. Due…

Words 662 - Pages 3

The Psychology Behind Political Polarization

This week, political psychologist, Alex Theodoridis lectured on the psychology behind political polarization. First, he discussed the recent political climate between democrats, republicans, and independents. He mentioned that individuals usually identify with either of these parties, but there is also so-called “leaners.” Theodoridis then explained his work as a political psychologist. He elaborated that he studied how much people identified with a certain party at the “gut level” using the implicit…

Words 408 - Pages 2

Polarization And The Tone Of Political Discourse

Government 23 May 2024 Polarization in America Polarization in America has increased over the years, especially in politics. As social media becomes more prevalent, everyone's opinion becomes shared. This leads to “teams” forming and making the extreme opinions heard. Political polarization is becoming more and more intense as time goes on. This is because we can more widely access information to feed into our views and opinions. The article Americans’ Feelings about Politics, Polarization and the Tone of…

Words 1101 - Pages 5

Summary Of Political Polarization In American Politics

Chapters one through five in Political Polarization in American Politics explain what Americans know about polarization in politics as well as how the state legislature is becoming more polarized. In class, we learned that America is polarized, and this reading supports that idea. Polarization is the distance between the middle of the Democratic and Republican views. As views move farther to the left or right, polarization increases. The polarization is not equal but rather asymmetrical and has occurred…

Words 377 - Pages 2

Party Polarization Research Paper

Thomas Leonard American Political Parties November 10 2016 Party polarization has become a major issue in today’s political landscape, throughout recent decades you begin to notice that the Republican Party has become more conservative and the Democratic Party has become more liberal, this essentially divides the American people and makes it harder for moderates to side with one party or the other. It also makes it harder on government to accomplish objectives because neither party is willing to…

Words 1125 - Pages 5

Essay about Intro to Politics final

1Gabriela Del Canto Intro to Politics Final Examination Essay Polarization is when something is divided in two. A party polarization is when political parties prelude the search for a middle ground. Polarization or “Red- Blue divide” has not occurred among ordinary voters but only among political elites, while others say polarization has taken place among citizens generally. Polarization among the two parties has evolved with neither party willing to compromise. Division of Republicans and…

Words 563 - Pages 3

Polarization in Us Politics Essay

politics is becoming more polarized. If so, is this a reaction to the polarization of political elites? Approx 1500 words 13/12/10 "The election of 2008... marked the end of an epoch. No longer could Republicans count on the basic conservatism of the American people, the reflexive hostility to candidates who favour big government" (Darman, 2010, 34) In the 1970s and 1980s there was a consensus that the importance of political parties was in decline, that the shared conservative ideology of…

Words 1683 - Pages 7

Sixth Party System Analysis

(Gershtenson 295). In Mobilization strategies of the Democrats and Republicans, 1956-2000 Gershtenson distinctly points out the two main parties of the sixth party system throughout his article. The two parties called Democrat and Republican were formed as political issues…

Words 1548 - Pages 7