Responses

The short answer is no, it is not too late to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, but "reversing" it entirely in our lifetimes is extremely difficult. To understand where we stand, it is helpful to look at the scientific consensus on what can be stopped, what can be reversed, and what is already "locked in." --- 1. Stopping vs. Reversing: The Good News For a long time, it was feared

Yes, in several key measurable ways—particularly over the past several decades—political polarization in the United States is worse (or at least higher) than it has been in the recent past, though comparisons to deeper history are more nuanced and it is not uniformly “worse than ever” across all dimensions or eras. Polarization is multi-faceted (ideological/issue-based, affective/emotional, elite

The short answer is: it depends on which "past" you are comparing it to. If you compare today’s political climate to the mid-to-late 20th century, polarization is dramatically worse. However, if you look at the entire arc of American history, today's divisions—while severe—are not entirely unprecedented, falling short of the existential crisis of the American Civil War. To understand where we

Yes, by multiple standard measures, political polarization in the United States is worse than it has been for most of the past several decades (particularly since the mid-20th century), though it is not unprecedented in American history and does not match the intensity of the Civil War era. Polarization has multiple dimensions—ideological/issue-based, partisan sorting, elite (congressional) behavi

Short answer: Mostly yes — by most measures, but with important nuance By several key metrics, polarization in the U.S. (and parts of other democracies) is at or near its highest point in decades, and in some cases the highest since the Civil War era. But researchers disagree on exactly how to compare eras, and different types of polarization have moved differently. Congressional/elite polariz

The short answer is: It depends on which "past" you are comparing it to. If you compare today’s political environment to the mid-to-late 20th century (the post-WWII era), yes, political polarization is significantly worse and has reached levels not seen in living memory. However, if you look at longer-term American history—specifically the Civil War era of the 1850s and 1860s, or the Reconstruct

Yes, by most measurable standards, political polarization in the United States is worse now than it has been for much of the past century—though it is not unprecedented in American history, and comparisons depend on the metric (elite vs. mass, affective vs. issue-based, etc.). Global trends are more mixed.[[1]](https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/political-division-united-states) Congressional/Elite P

Short answer: It depends on what you compare and over what time frame — but by several measures, yes, recent decades have seen the highest polarization in modern history, though not necessarily in all of U.S. history. Congressional/elite polarization is at modern highs In Congress specifically, the data is fairly unambiguous. A Pew Research Center analysis finds that, on average, Democrats and

To answer whether political polarization is worse today than in the past, political scientists and historians generally look at two different eras of comparison. The short answer is no, it is not the worst it has ever been in American history (which culminated in a Civil War that killed hundreds of thousands of citizens). However, yes, it is worse than at any other point in living memory, and it

Yes, by multiple standard measures—especially in the United States—political polarization is worse than it has been for much of the past several decades (roughly since the mid-20th century post-WWII consensus), and it has reached highs not seen in living memory for peacetime politics. However, it is not entirely unprecedented in U.S. history (e.g., Civil War era or late 19th century), violence and

Short answer: Yes, in important ways — but with real nuance By most empirical measures, affective polarization (how much Americans dislike the other side, as opposed to how much they disagree on issues) is at or near its highest level in the modern polling era, and it's gotten dramatically worse over the last 30-50 years. The evidence for "worse than ever" Feelings toward the opposing party h

Yes, by multiple standard measures, political polarization in the United States—the country with the most detailed long-term data—is worse than it has been for most of the post-World War II era (roughly the last 50–70 years), with a particularly sharp rise since around 2008. It is not, however, unprecedented in American history; deeper or differently structured divisions existed during the Civil W

Short answer: Yes, by most measures — especially in the last 15-20 years Political polarization in the U.S. (and this is the context most data focuses on) is genuinely worse now than at almost any point in the past century, though there are important nuances depending on which type of polarization you're measuring. Congressional/elite polarization is at modern historical extremes This is the m

The short answer is no, it is not too late to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, but we cannot completely "undo" or immediately reverse the damage that has already been done. To understand where we stand, it helps to distinguish between what is already "locked in," what we can still prevent, and how we might eventually reverse some of the warming in the long term. --- 1. What is "Lo

To answer whether political polarization is "worse than it has been in the past," political scientists and historians look at different eras, measurements, and definitions. The short answer is yes, political polarization is worse than it has been in any living person’s memory (dating back to the mid-20th century). In terms of how much Americans dislike one another based on party lines, we are at

[[1]](https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/political-division-united-states)[[2]](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/)[[2]](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/)[[1]](https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/political-division-united-states)[[3]](https:

Yes and no — it depends on what kind of polarization and timeframe you're measuring. It's worse than any point in recent decades. A long-running Pew Research series found a survey from the Pew Research Center finds that the U.S. has become more politically partisan than at any time in its modern history, with liberals becoming more ideologically consistent with other liberals, and conservatives

Whether political polarization is "worse" today than in the past depends entirely on which era you compare it to and how you measure it. Political scientists generally divide polarization into two types: ideological polarization (differences in policy positions) and affective polarization (feelings of dislike, distrust, and hostility toward the opposing party). By both metrics, political polari

Yes, by multiple standard measures, political polarization in the United States is worse than it has been for decades (and in some elite metrics, worse than at any point since the late 19th century), though it does not match the extreme societal rupture of the Civil War era.[[1]](https://scienceinsights.org/how-political-polarization-has-changed-over-time/)[[2]](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-r

Short answer: It depends on what kind of polarization you mean and what time period you compare to—but by most measures, yes, especially in the US, though important caveats apply. Ideological/Congressional Polarization: Highest in Decades By measures of how far apart lawmakers vote, polarization is dramatic. A Pew Research Center analysis finds that, on average, Democrats and Republicans are fa

Yes, by most standard measures, political polarization in the United States is worse now than it has been for much of the past several decades (particularly since the mid-20th century), though it is not unprecedented in American history and does not match the intensity of the Civil War era. Different forms of polarization—elite/congressional, issue-based among the public, and affective (emotional

To answer whether political polarization is worse than in the past, it helps to look at two different timelines: modern history (the last 50 to 80 years) and deep history (the 19th century). The short answer is that yes, political polarization is worse today than at any point in modern history. However, it is not yet as severe as the deepest fractures of the 19th century, most notably the period

[[1]](https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/political-division-united-states)[[2]](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/)Yes, by multiple standard measures, political polarization in the United States is higher now than it has been for much of the past several decades (particularly since the mid-20th century), though the U.S.

Short answer: Yes, by most measures — especially in the U.S. — but with important nuance The evidence strongly suggests that current political polarization, particularly in the United States, is at or near record highs by several key measures, though the picture is more complicated when you dig into why and how. Evidence that it's genuinely worse Elected officials/Congress: a Pew Research Cen

[[1]](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/)[[2]](https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/political-division-united-states)[[3]](https://goodauthority.org/news/americans-views-of-the-opposite-party-have-declined-even-further/)[[4]](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/10/23/in-polarized-era-fewer-americans-hold-a-mix-of

Whether political polarization is "worse" than it has been in the past depends entirely on how far back you look and what you are measuring. If you are comparing today to the last 50 to 70 years, yes, political polarization is significantly worse. However, if you look at the entirety of American history, the nation has survived several periods of polarization that were far more violent and destr

[[1]](https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/political-division-united-states)[[2]](https://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/cross-polar.pdf)[[3]](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/)[[4]](https://carnegieendowment.org/files/McCoyetal-Polarizationfinal3.pdf)Yes, by multiple standard measures, political polarization in the

Short answer: Yes, in most measurable ways—especially among political elites and in terms of partisan animosity—but the picture is nuanced depending on how you define "polarization" and what time period you compare to. Where the evidence strongly supports "worse than before" Congress/elites: A Pew Research Center analysis finds that, on average, Democrats and Republicans are farther apart ideo

Whether political polarization is "worse than it’s been in the past" depends on how far back in history you look. If you compare today’s political climate to the mid-to-late 20th century, yes, polarization is significantly worse. By almost every metric, the United States is more politically divided today than at any point in the last 100 years. However, if you look at the entirety of American

Yes, by most standard measures, political polarization—particularly in the United States—is worse now than it has been in recent decades (post-World War II era), though it is not unprecedented in American history when compared to extreme periods like the Civil War era, and trends vary by type of polarization and country.[[1]](https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/political-division-united-states) Polariz