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

Polarization today is sharp — but is it historically unprecedented? I'll pull the data to compare now to the past.

Short answer: By most modern measures, yes - but it depends on what time frame and what kind of polarization you mean.

1. What "worse" usually means today

Scholars distinguish two types:

•Ideological polarization - differences in policy positions

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

Both have increased in the U.S. in the late 20th and early 21st century more than in comparable democracies.

Ideological / Elite Polarization in Congress

•A Pew Research Center analysis finds Democrats and Republicans are farther apart ideologically today than at any time in the past 50 years.

•From 1994 to 2014, the share of Americans who expressed either "consistently liberal" or "consistently conservative" opinions doubled from 10% to 21%.

•As of 2025, polarization was higher than any point in current history.

•One assessment quoted was: "Partisan polarization is worse today than it has been in 100 years".

Congressional data using DW-NOMINATE scores ( roll-call voting records):

•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.

•There are only about two dozen true moderates left on Capitol Hill, versus more than 160 in the early 1970s. Another summary notes: There are now only about two dozen moderate Democrats and Republicans left, compared to 160 in 1971-72.

•The overlap interval - how many Republicans are to the right of the most right-leaning Democrat and vice versa - is now zero. "In the 1960s, for instance, you had intervals where about 50 percent of the legislators in the two parties overlapped".

The rise is described as asymmetric, as it has primarily been driven by a rightward shift among Republicans in Congress.

Affective Polarization (how much partisans dislike each other)

•A 1964 survey found that only about 30% of Democrats and Republicans expressed negative feelings for their opposing political group. In 2014, the unfavorable views expressed for the opposing political party rose to about 80% for both Democrats and Republicans.

•By 2022, 72 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Democrats viewed the opposing party as "more immoral" than other Americans, up significantly from 47 percent and 35 percent respectively in 2016, according to Pew Research Center data.

•According to the Pew Research Center, members of both parties who have unfavorable opinions of the opposing party doubled between 1994 and 2014.

Pew's broader definition is "the vast and growing gap between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats", and that gap in values widened significantly over the past decades.

2. The historical caveat - not worse than all of American history

When viewed over 200 years, the picture is more nuanced:

•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, with open political violence and highly polarized political discourse.

•Some political scientists have pointed out 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.

•Another analysis notes: 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. There have been long stretches of American history in which conflicts were far worse.

The Civil War era remains the extreme example of division leading to violence, and some scholars note polarization after the 2004 election had not been so polarized since the American Civil War - implying that period was comparably or more polarized.

3. Elite vs. mass public

Research finds a marked difference between elite and mass levels:

•Elites are polarized by almost any definition, although this state of affairs is quite common historically. In contrast, mass attitudes are now better sorted by party, but generally not polarized.

In other words, voters' policy positions are more closely aligned with their partisanship (sorted), but the general public is not as ideologically polarized as elected officials and activists. Much of the most intense ideological and affective polarization is concentrated among the most politically engaged Americans.

> Bottom line: Compared to the last 50-100 years - especially the relatively bipartisan 1950s-1960s and early 1970s - polarization today is worse by virtually every modern metric (ideological consistency, congressional voting, affective dislike, disappearance of moderates). Compared to the 19th century, including the Gilded Age and the Civil War era, today's polarization is very high - at levels not seen since Reconstruction - but not unique in American history as a whole.

Citations (3)

1wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
Political polarization in the United States
Backs: “What "worse" usually means today. Scholars distinguish two types: Ideological polarization - differences in policy positions”
2usc.eduAcademic
Political polarization at its worst since the Civil War
Backs: “One assessment quoted was: "Partisan polarization is worse today than it has been in 100 years". Congressional data using DW-NOMINATE scores ( roll-call voting records): Following a period of a much more balanced Congress during the middle of the 20th century, ideological distance between the parties began to grow…”
3litsummary.comLow provenance
Is the US becoming more politically polarized? - LitSummary
Backs: “A 1964 survey found that only about 30% of Democrats and Republicans expressed negative feelings for their opposing political group. In 2014, the unfavorable views expressed for the opposing political party rose to about 80% for both Democrats and Republicans.”