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b_b · 3771 days ago · link · · parent · post: Political Polarization in the American Public: How Increasing Ideological Uniformity and Partisan Antipathy Affect Politics, Compromise and Everyday Life
On the Media pointed out recently that polling data suggest that people are more sorted now, not more polarized. That is, on average the same number of people have moderate, conservative and liberal opinions as they have for several decades. However, people's opinions are less likely to be divided between liberal and conservative; we've stopped thinking for ourselves, essentially. We all now believe that we must be anti-abortion and pro-big business, or vice versa. However, the percentage of us who are pro-business and anti-abortion aren't at all dissimilar to what they were 30 years ago. It is a troubling trend, because it means that we've bought the bullshit that we've been spoon fed by the parties' propaganda machines.