It's important for you to know that a chunk of conservative dark money has recently been lobbed at academic research on "polarization," and it bears reflecting on why a framing of the US's contemporary crisis that automatically suggests there's blame on all sides would be favored by them
Might as well point out that Democrats offer to compromise and Republicans refuse absolutely, starting at least in the Obama years. Gingrich wrote the doctrine. So even in Edsall’s facile analysis, Republicans are still the problem.
not even both sides, i think they're trying to pretend they're being unfairly persecuted
reminds of a neat word from when i studied polisci in undergrad: “unipolar”
In a different national context, this is why I argue in public that Israeli society has become less polarized and more extreme, rather than increasingly polarized. A key point here is to have a good analytical approach to polarization, rather than relying on opinion polls of inter group attitudes.
Got any links or articles on this you’ve found helpful? 🙏🏼
It's important to shine a light on this and ask, "Is it really 'polarization' when one side of the spectrum remains more or less in equilibrium while the other moves radically away from what had been the 'center'?" Polarization implies a shared agency which masks the excesses of the one side.
That headline reminds me of the proximate cause of the Civil War: Southerners realizing they had lost the ability to silence opponents of slavery.
Get back to me when Republicans stop wanting their own alternative facts to believe.
Hard to take seriously a guy who asserts Republicans don't want Black votes to count. But, yeah, the polarization explanation is getting way too much attention.
Literally: Charles Koch funds a research center of some scholars quoted in the article to the tune of $3M. That shows how much “polarization” is worth to him.