Great post, and thanks for writing it. One note: if polarization is defined as “more extreme views on each issue” (e.g. more people wanting extremely high or extremely low taxes), then it does not seem to be happening according to some research. The sort of polarization happening in the U.S. is more characterized as ideological sorting. That is, views on any particular issue (abortion, affirmative action, gun control) don’t have more mass on the extremes than before, but the views in each political party are less mixed.
This is nonetheless important, and I don’t think it radically changes much of what you said. Affect toward the opposite party is still much more negative than before. But it might suggest we should be more concerned about the conflict between the parties itself (e.g. abusing constitutional norms, cancellation) and less concerned about their policies per se.
Great post, and thanks for writing it. One note: if polarization is defined as “more extreme views on each issue” (e.g. more people wanting extremely high or extremely low taxes), then it does not seem to be happening according to some research. The sort of polarization happening in the U.S. is more characterized as ideological sorting. That is, views on any particular issue (abortion, affirmative action, gun control) don’t have more mass on the extremes than before, but the views in each political party are less mixed.
This is nonetheless important, and I don’t think it radically changes much of what you said. Affect toward the opposite party is still much more negative than before. But it might suggest we should be more concerned about the conflict between the parties itself (e.g. abusing constitutional norms, cancellation) and less concerned about their policies per se.