Polarization

Question 1

What is polarization?

Answer 1

• Dictionary definition: division into two sharply distinct opposites
• In political science: the divergence of political attitudes away from the
  center, towards ideological extremes

Question 2

What are the differences between affective and ideological polarization?

Answer 2

• Ideological polarization refers to increasingly distant policy views
  between elites and the mass public
• People becoming more “liberal” or more “conservative” and less “moderate”
• Affective polarization refers to the negative emotions (or affect) we
  feel toward people based on their partisan identity
• An affinity for our in-party and a dislike of our out-party

Question 3

Why did we ideologically polarize? Why did we affectively polarize? Who polarized first, elites or the public?

Answer 3

• The public is moderate, holding a mix of liberal and conservative views
• Polarization is an elite phenomena
• Red and Blue states are not all that different
• Social gaps are decreasing
• Elite polarization depresses turnout
  The story of polarization begins with our elected representatives
  How did we ideologically polarize?
• Party elites recognized they needed to differentiate the parties from
  each other
• Need to offer voters two distinct vote options
• Partisan sorting
• Elites ”sorted” into their correct party
• All liberals become Democrats and all conservatives become Republicans
• The mass public then followed elite behavior and signals
  Why have we become affectively
  polarized?
• Media and elite environment
• Social networks
• Out-group misperceptions

Question 4

What effects do negative partisanship and polarization have on elections?

Answer 4

• The rise of negative partisanship
• Vote choice becomes more so driven by out-party hate, rather than
  in-party support
• Contributed to a decline in the incumbency advantage
• Creates a structural advantage for Republicans
• There are more Republicans distributed across Congressional districts, less
  likely that a Democrat would represent a Republican district
• Ideological polarization drives more extremist nominees
• Primary voters are more ideologically extreme, nominate more extreme
  candidates
• Extremist nominees tend to fare worse in elections than more
  moderate candidates
• Extremist nominees suppress turnout from moderate members of their own
  party
• Contributes to the nationalization of Congressional elections