Are We Really That Polarized?
May 2024
Well, who knew? Americans, it turns out, aren’t nearly as polarized as we’ve been led to believe — or encouraged to assume — if we just gorge ourselves on Fox or MSNBC.
Most suburban churchgoers who register Republican aren’t “Christian nationalists,” and most people who vote for Democratic candidates don’t find socialism appealing. Most immigrants aren’t here to commit crimes, and most college students aren’t camped out chanting “From the river to the sea.” And the overwhelming majority of us aren’t even getting our news by watching Jesse Watters or Rachel Maddow. Fewer than 2% of Americans are watching any of those people or the networks that employ them.
These are among the findings of a new survey of more than 1,200 Americans by The Associated Press and the University of Chicago’s NORC (formerly the National Opinion Research Center), conducted in late March. The survey also found that some 90% of Republicans and Democrats agree about constitutional guarantees that cable news fire-eaters say are under siege. Americans overwhelmingly support the right to vote, the right to privacy, equal protection under the law, and freedom of speech and religion. And almost 80% support the right to own a gun.
You would know none of this to read or listen to the leading pundits. They would have us believe that Americans are at each other’s throats, that neighbors no longer speak and that every family dinner ends in a screaming match. While good for ratings, this is also misleading.
‘Normal’ People
“If you get a bunch of normal people at random and put them in a room together and chat about issues, there’s a lot more convergence than you might imagine,” says Michael Albertus, a political scientist at the University of Chicago quoted in the AP/NORC’s summary of the study. Most Americans, according to Lilliana Mason, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University, “are pretty moderate, but they’ve been riled up to hate people of the other party for being different from them culturally, racially and religiously.”
As encouraging as these findings might be, there’s still cause for concern. Only about three Americans in 10 believe our democracy is working well. About half say it is functioning poorly, and 14% say it’s not a democracy at all.
Our democracy is greater in theory than in practice — with younger Americans less likely to believe it is working well than those of their parents’ generation. That might be because, as Howard Lavine of the University of Minnesota says, younger people cannot remember a time when people with opposing views could “come over to your house.”
Possible takeaways?
The fact that so many Americans agree on fundamental values is reassuring. It means we can all breathe a sigh of relief — a deep, cleansing breath, as yoga instructors say. For public affairs professionals, especially those managing grassroots campaigns, there’s more opportunity than might be assumed to make common cause with everyday Americans.
And the fact that there’s considerable discomfort about how well our democracy is functioning presents intriguing possibilities too. It means public affairs professionals, by speaking tactfully to those fundamental values, can be a force for reconciliation.
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The fact that so many Americans agree on fundamental values is reassuring. It means we can all breathe a sigh of relief — a deep, cleansing breath, as yoga instructors say. For public affairs professionals, especially those managing grassroots campaigns, there’s more opportunity than might be assumed to make common cause with everyday Americans.
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