Assignment task:
In political science, we have quite a lot of evidence that polarization has occurred between the two parties, and in many forms. Elites have diverged sharply from each other in terms of their preference (ideological polarization), and the masses both take their partisan identity much more seriously (coalitional polarization) and increasingly dislike or even hate the other party (affective polarization).
Given the above, your discussion topic for the week: Do you think American politics has polarized over those few years?
Though you may have only had a handful of years to closely observe American politics, have you noticed shifts during your own lifetime in how people talk about politics, evaluate political actions by elites, and relate to one another over politics?
Think about ways in which you may have encountered polarization in your interactions with family, friends, and colleagues, or in observing our elected officials speak and make decisions. Write down anything salient that comes to mind.
Is polarization just a bad thing? In what ways? Has it caused anything positive to happen? How so?