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

Polarization is a big question — I'll pull historical trends and research to compare today with the past.

Political polarization is worse than in the recent past by most modern measures, but not worse than at every point in American history.

By modern measures - yes, worse than the last 50 years

Much research distinguishes between:

•Ideological polarization - differences in policy positions

•Affective polarization - dislike and distrust of political out-groups

Both have increased:

•Pew Research found Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines - and partisan antipathy is deeper and more extensive - than at any point in the last two decades

•The overall share of Americans who express consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions has doubled over the past two decades from 10% to 21%

•Members of both parties who have unfavorable opinions of the opposing party doubled between 1994 and 2014, while those who have very unfavorable opinions of the opposing party are at record highs as of 2022

•In 1994 , only 17% of Republicans and 16% of Democrats reported very unfavorable views of the opposing party. By 2016 , those numbers had risen to 58% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats

•A Pew Research Center analysis from 2022 found Democrats and Republicans are farther apart ideologically today than at any time in the past 50 years. In the 117th U.S. Congress from 2021 to 2023, there were about two dozen moderate Democrats and Republicans compared to more than 160 moderates five decades earlier during the 92nd U.S. Congress from 1971-1972

•Polarization has increased since the 1970s, with rapid increases in polarization during the 2000s onwards. As of 2025, polarization was higher than any point in current history

Affective polarization in particular has grown faster:

•Affective polarization — the increasing dislike of the opposing party — is the most dramatic trend in American politics over the past two decades

•A Brown/Stanford study presenting the first ever multination evidence on longterm trends in "affective polarization" ... found that in the U.S., affective polarization has increased more dramatically since the late 1970s than in the eight other countries they examined

•In 1978, the average American rated the members of their own political party 27 points higher than members of the other major party. By 2016, Americans were rating their own party 45.9 points higher than the other party

•The ideological gap between the political right wing and left wing is wider in the United State than in other countries on many issues, and 88% of Americans said that there are strong conflicts in the country between people who support different political parties

•Increasing affective polarization is primarily an American story. The US shows the steepest and most consistent rise

Research also finds the U.S. is polarizing faster compared to other democratic countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia

By longer historical measures - no, not the worst ever

Historians note that current divisions pale in comparison to some earlier eras:

> 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 the mid-19th century

Between Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 and the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army at Appomattox in April 1865, the nation literally broke apart

That period produced at least 620,000 military deaths – the equivalent of approximately 6.5 million dead in the United States of 2020, and involved events like the caning of Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor and secession of 11 states.

As one prefatory observation puts it: for all the hype about the ruptures and partisan rancor in contemporary American society, the strife pales in comparison with much of the nation's past

Other highly polarized periods include:

•The Gilded Age of the late 19th century (c. 1870 – 1900) is considered to be one of the most politically polarized periods in American history

•No political issue in 2020 approaches slavery in the mid-19th century in terms of potential divisiveness

Nuances

1.Elite vs. Mass polarization: Political scientist Morris Fiorina argues that despite widespread perceptions of rising political polarization, the American public is no more polarized than it was before the Reagan era. Other scholars argue mass polarization is imposing polarization upon elites, while Fiorina argues elite polarization is wrongly imputed to the general public

2.Engaged vs. Disengaged: Polarization in American politics is primarily a phenomenon among Americans who are deeply involved in politics and very expressive about their political views. Americans who are not as involved in politics are not as polarized

3.Asymmetric: Polarization among U.S. legislators is asymmetric, as it has primarily been driven by a rightward shift among Republicans in Congress

Citations (3)

1wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
Political polarization in the United States
Backs: “By modern measures - yes, worse than the last 50 years. Much research distinguishes between: Ideological polarization - differences in policy positions”
2phys.orgNews and mediaquality 0.85
US is polarizing faster than other democracies, study finds
Backs: “A Brown/Stanford study presenting the first ever multination evidence on longterm trends in "affective polarization" ... found that in the U.S., affective polarization has increased more dramatically since the late 1970s than in the eight other countries they examined”
3govexec.comNews and mediaquality 0.87
Think the U.S. is More Polarized Than Ever? You Don’t Know History
Backs: “By longer historical measures - no, not the worst ever. Historians note that current divisions pale in comparison to some earlier eras: 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 the mid-19th century”