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

Short answer: Yes, by most measures — though there's important nuance depending on the timeframe and what kind of polarization you mean.

Congress/elite polarization

By the numbers, today's polarization in Congress is historically extreme, at least for the modern era. A Pew Research Center analysis finds that, on average, Democrats and Republicans are farther apart ideologically today than at any time in the past 50 years. The middle ground has essentially disappeared — there are now only about two dozen moderate Democrats and Republicans left on Capitol Hill, versus more than 160 in 1971-72.

Some political scientists put this in even longer historical context using congressional voting-record analysis (NOMINATE data), finding that partisan elites in the U.S. are as polarized today as they were around the time of the Civil War. That said, other researchers caution against over-dramatizing this: viewed within the context of data from the last two centuries, today's levels of polarization are not such an alarming anomaly compared to those occurring during the time of slavery. In other words, current polarization is extreme for the post-WWII era but roughly matches (not necessarily exceeds) the most divided period in American history.

Public/mass polarization

Among ordinary Americans, the trend is also sharply upward, and recent research suggests it's accelerating rather than plateauing:

Affective polarization (how much partisans actively dislike the other side) has grown dramatically in a short period: for the past five decades, ANES surveys have asked partisans to rate the opposing party, and in 2000, just 8 percent of partisans gave the other party a zero — by 2020, that figure had shot up to 40 percent. Similarly, 48% of Republicans placed their feelings about Democrats at 0 on a 100-point scale (76x the share who did so in 2000) and 39% of Democrats reported their feelings about Republicans as 0 (43x the share who did so in 2000).

Recent/2026 snapshot

The gap in satisfaction with government between the parties has also hit new extremes: new Gallup poll analysis finds Americans' satisfaction with government has become sharply more polarized in 2026 — a mere 12% of Democrats are satisfied with the system of government, compared with 24% of Independents and 52% of Republicans, the first time in 25 years any party dipped below 20% satisfaction.

Caveats and nuance

Bottom line

If you're asking about the last 50–70 years, the answer is a clear yes — congressional polarization, partisan animosity, and satisfaction gaps are all at or near record highs for that period. If you're asking about all of U.S. history, it's more of a "yes, comparable to the worst historical periods" (like the Civil War era) rather than an unprecedented all-time high. The sharpest acceleration appears to have happened after 2008, and there's some evidence the trend may be leveling off recently — but from a historically elevated baseline.