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

Short answer: It depends on what you compare it to and what kind of polarization you mean — but by most measures of the modern era (since WWII), yes, it's worse. Compared to the Civil War, no.

Here's the nuanced picture:

Compared to the last ~75 years, polarization is clearly worse

•Congressional voting patterns: Following a period of a much more balanced Congress during the middle of the 20th century, ideological distance between the parties began to grow during the 1970s to the extent that Congress is now more polarized than at any time since the late 1870s Reconstruction Era. In the 1960s, for instance, you had intervals where about 50 percent of the legislators in the two parties overlapped—overlap that has essentially disappeared today.

•Affective (emotional) polarization — how negatively people feel toward the opposing party — has risen sharply. Americans' feelings toward members of the other political party have worsened over time faster than those of residents of European and other prominent democracies, according to research co-authored by Brown economist Jesse Shapiro.

•Survey data backs this up: Pew Research Center polling reveals a sharp rise in partisan hostility: in 2022, 72% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats viewed the opposing party as more immoral than other Americans—up dramatically from 47% and 35% in 2016.

•There's even a puzzle here: Americans today care about many more political issues than they did 75 years ago, yet polarization is worse. Research suggests this is partly because under extreme partisanship, individuals' openness to learning from peers with a different political ideology is diminished, leading to greater tribalism that drastically diminishes interest diversity, which leads to high within-ideology camaraderie and heightened polarization.

Compared to the Civil War era, no — not close

Historians are quick to push back on "worst since the Civil War" framing:

•A UVA Civil War historian notes: current divisions pale in comparison to those of the mid-19th century, pointing out that more than 3 million men took up arms, and hundreds of thousands of black and white civilians in the Confederacy became refugees, while four million enslaved African Americans were freed from bondage. He adds: No political issue in 2020 approaches slavery in the mid-19th century in terms of potential divisiveness.

•Brookings' review of scholarly work on the subject notes that researchers comparing eras found the Civil War era as a benchmark for total polarization: the political parties were not only widely separated ideologically but were highly unified around their respective positions, and the public seems to have been equally polarized.

•Even recent commentary (March 2026) cautions against the comparison: a Howard University historian said "I do not think that an analogy between the period that we're now in and the American Civil War is appropriate. The country is politically divided. The country is not militarily divided."

Other comparison points

•NPR raised the 1960s as a more apt comparison, noting you don't have to go back to the Civil War to find a time when we were such dis-United States—look to the 1960s, when there was political violence, rage in the streets, cultural convulsions. One difference noted: in the 60s, the combatants on both sides knew who they were—students and counterculture marchers versus institutions like universities or the Defense Department—whereas today, anyone can be on the front lines: a school board member, an election worker, a librarian.

•Some political scientists push back even on the "worse than ever in modern terms" framing, noting that 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 and similar points along the historical continuum.

Bottom line

By nearly every systematic measure (congressional voting records, partisan animosity surveys, cross-national comparisons), the U.S. is more polarized today than at any point since roughly the late 19th century / Reconstruction era, and the rate of increase in partisan hostility has outpaced peer democracies. But if your benchmark is the Civil War itself — an actual armed conflict over slavery that killed hundreds of thousands — today's polarization doesn't come close.

Citations (14)

1usc.eduAcademic
Political polarization at its worst since the Civil War - USC Today
Source excerpt: “Following a period of a much more balanced Congress during the middle of the 20th century, ideological distance between the parties began to grow duri...”
2usc.eduAcademic
Political polarization at its worst since the Civil War - USC Today
Source excerpt: “In the 1960s, for instance, you had intervals where about 50 percent of the legislators in the two parties overlapped. Some political scientists ha...”
3brown.eduAcademic
U.S. is polarizing faster than other democracies, study finds
Source excerpt: “Americans’ feelings toward members of the other political party have worsened over time faster than those of residents of European and other prominent...”
4syr.eduAcademic
The 'Great Divide': Understanding US Political Polarization
Source excerpt: “Pew Research Center polling reveals a sharp rise in partisan hostility: in 2022, 72% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats viewed the opposing party as ...”
5princeton.eduAcademic
Political polarization and its echo chambers: Surprising new, cross-disciplinary perspectives from Princeton
Source excerpt: “But Americans today care about many more political issues than they did 75 years ago, yet polarization is worse. ”
6princeton.eduAcademic
Political polarization and its echo chambers: Surprising new, cross-disciplinary perspectives from Princeton
Source excerpt: “But there is a twist — under extreme partisanship, individuals’ openness to learning from peers with a different political ideology is diminished. Thi...”
7govexec.comNews and mediaquality 0.87
Think the U.S. is More Polarized Than Ever? You Don’t Know History - Government Executive
Source excerpt: “As a historian who has written and taught about the Civil War era for several decades, I know that current divisions pale in comparison to those of th...”
8govexec.comNews and mediaquality 0.87
Think the U.S. is More Polarized Than Ever? You Don’t Know History - Government Executive
Source excerpt: “More than 3 million men took up arms, and hundreds of thousands of black and white civilians in the Confederacy became refugees. Four million enslaved...”
9govexec.comNews and mediaquality 0.87
Think the U.S. is More Polarized Than Ever? You Don’t Know History - Government Executive
Source excerpt: “No political issue in 2020 approaches slavery in the mid-19th century in terms of potential divisiveness. ”
10brookings.eduNonprofits and think tanks
Political Polarization—a Dispatch from the Scholarly Front Lines
Source excerpt: “Brady and Han look to the Civil War era as a benchmark for total polarization. The political parties were not only widely separated ideologically but...”
11thehilltoponline.comNews and media
Civil War Parallels Resurface as Political Divisions Deepen - The Hilltop
Source excerpt: ““I do not think that an analogy between the period that we’re now in and the American Civil War is appropriate. The country is politically divided. Th...”
12npr.orgNews and mediaquality 0.93
Some compare today's political divide to the Civil War. But what about the 1960s? : NPR
Source excerpt: “You don't have to go back to the Civil War to find a time when we were such dis-United States. Look to the 1960s - there was political violence, rage ...”
13npr.orgNews and mediaquality 0.93
Some compare today's political divide to the Civil War. But what about the 1960s? : NPR
Source excerpt: “BURNETT: Back then, the combatants, if you will, on both sides knew who they were. Students and counterculture marchers and peaceniks versus sprawling...”
14usc.eduAcademic
Political polarization at its worst since the Civil War - USC Today
Source excerpt: “Some political scientists have pointed out that viewed within the context of data from the last two centuries todays levels of polarization are n...”