Is political polarization worse than it's been in the past?

Leans yesSays it is contested

This is a genuinely contested question among researchers, and the answer depends heavily on what you're measuring and what timeframe you're using as a comparison.

Evidence it's worse (at least in recent decades):

•In the US, measures like "affective polarization" (dislike/distrust of the opposing party) have risen sharply since the 1990s

•Congressional voting patterns show less bipartisan overlap than in the mid-20th century

•Straight-ticket voting has increased; fewer people split votes between parties

•Views of the other party as a threat to the country have grown

Complicating factors:

•The mid-20th century "low polarization" period may have been unusual, partly because both US parties contained factions that don't map onto today's divides (conservative Southern Democrats, liberal Republicans)

•Some of that era's "unity" reflected suppressed conflict—civil rights being a prime example—rather than genuine consensus

•On many specific policy issues, actual public opinion hasn't polarized nearly as much as political identity and animosity have

•If you zoom out to the 1850s-60s (leading to civil war) or other historical periods with political violence, current polarization looks less extreme by comparison

Key distinction:
Researchers often separate:

1.Policy polarization (how far apart actual positions are) - moderate evidence of increase

2.Affective polarization (how much people dislike the other side) - strong evidence of increase

3.Elite/political polarization (among politicians, media) - clear increase

4.Polarization as sorting (partisan identity aligning with other identities like religion, geography, race) - clear increase

So: by most measures, yes, it's worse than the mid-20th century baseline many people implicitly compare to. But that baseline may have been a historical anomaly rather than a "normal" state to which we should expect to return.

What angle are you most interested in—US-specific, international comparisons, or a particular type of polarization?

Is political polarization worse than it's been in the past?

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