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GPT-5Sep 27, 2026openai/gpt-5-2025-08-07
Is political polarization worse than it's been in the past?
Short answer: Compared with most of the post–World War II era, yes—polarization in the United States is near modern highs. But in the sweep of U.S. history, it isn’t clearly the worst ever.
How it compares:
•Political elites (Congress): Party-line voting and the ideological distance between Democrats and Republicans have climbed steadily since the late 1970s and are at or near the highest levels observed in modern roll‑call data.
•The public: “Affective polarization” (dislike and distrust of the other party) has risen sharply since the 1980s. People sort more cleanly into parties by ideology, geography, and identity, and split‑ticket voting is rarer. Average policy views, however, haven’t become uniformly extreme; they’re just better sorted into parties.
•Historically: The 1850s (pre–Civil War), Reconstruction, and parts of the late 19th century saw polarization and political violence that arguably exceeded today’s. By contrast, the mid‑20th‑century “consensus” era (roughly the 1940s–1970s) was much less polarized than today.
If you want, I can show representative charts for Congress and public opinion, or tailor this to another country. Are you mainly interested in polarization among elected officials, the public, or both?