Introduction
Political polarization is one of the most discussed topics in the US this century. The topic has become the center of attention since two political parties want to take the country’s leadership and guide them through the respective political ideologies of each party, the Republicans and Democrats. The divide between these two political parties has been immense. They are diverting from each other as much as they can, thus increasing the society’s divide. In a nutshell, political polarization is simply a state where there is a political divide between different groups of people fueled by their beliefs and values (Heltzel & Laurin, 2020). Each side keeps trying to push for their ideologies irrespective of whether they are right or wrong and thus making it difficult for these groups to settle down and try to agree with those opposing them. This is a typical case of the state of the United States. The two main parties, the Republicans and Democrats, don’t see eye to eye. Research has indicated that with the present time, political polarization has intensified in the US, and it is fueled by a variety of factors which include but are not limited to economic inequality, media biasness, cultural differences, and social media algorithms.
Following the research conducted over the years, it can be said that the US has become more polarized than ever. The Democrats and Republicans are far apart from each other, which is visible daily. The two major political divide share ideologies that are apart from each other than at any other time in history. The situation witnessed today came out of nowhere, but work has been in progress for a long time. For instance, it can be said that the Democrats have become more liberal while the Republicans have become more conservative. Looking at things in such a scope, it is very easy to tell why there is a rift in American politics. Another key aspect that tells the rift is that even in representation, the two parties are reporting their dominance in different parts of the country. It can be said that half of the Democrats’ representatives in the House come from the north and are a mix of almost all races in the country, that is, Hispanic, Black, or Asian, just to list a few, while half of the Republicans House representatives come from the South (DeSilver, 2022). The rift has been developing over time, and now it is at its peak.
One cannot understand political polarization in the US without understanding group polarization. This is one of the key concepts that drive polarization to the current levels. This is whereby, for instance, a party takes a stand, and all members are subjected to adhere to these stands. It simply refers to a tendency whereby group discussions lead to more extreme ideologies and stands than when individuals would depict themselves. If the decision is made collectively, the group members influence other members’ opinions as well as stands and thus lead to a creation of normative pressure which subjects the others who would have a different opinion to subject to the group positions (Alvernia University, 2018). The pressure is built upon when people are surrounded by like-minded people in the same group. This means that they will think in the same direction, and through the media and social networks, they will feed other people around them. This means the ideologies would be expanding rapidly. It simply lays the ground for more divergent ideologies and the development of extreme attitudes over time. This is so as even neutral people are recruited to take a position in such matters, thus increasing aggressiveness.
Another aspect that can be used to give deeper insights into the rise of political polarization is social cognition. This simply refers to the mental process where people would try to influence the social world surrounding them and try to make sense of it. One of the focuses in this aspect is on heuristics. This refers to mental shortcuts that people use to make judgments. Their focus is to make those judgments as quickly as possible. The end product of such judgments is that they are not effective as one would be thought since there are errors and biasness in most of the decisions made. From the political aspect, it leads to a competition between the political divide (Jost et al., 2022). It always leads to a narrative of “them vs. us.” In such situations, it will always become difficult to work on a common ground since the people would never agree on anything as long as one belongs to these divides and the other to the other.
Another aspect that influences political polarization in America is attitudes and attitude change theory. People’s attitude matters in most of the thing that happens around them. It is all about judgment on people, events, and so on, or any aspect of human life (Bohner & Dickel, 2011). Attitudes are not independent as there are key factors that influence them, and most of them are external factors. Some include the media and the internet, especially regarding the political scene. Other factors may include the surroundings, including the social norms and experiences that people go through. The theory implies that attitudes can often change if enough pressure is initiated through persuasion. But things are a bit different than most could anticipate when it comes to political polarization. The attitudes are deeply encroached and amalgamated by ideologies that different groups hold to the point that if the attitude is to change, the ideologies must also change. This is not easy; most of the time, it does not even happen. The Democrats will continue to support their ideologies, and the same applies to the Republicans, no matter how insane these ideologies may seem. Having a sober and neutral stand is not an option at this stage.
Conclusion
The development of political polarization is something that has taken over the ages. It was a gradual process as it started reflecting in US politics in 1972. The polarization of US politics is at its highest at this stage ever witnessed in history. This is being driven by the two major parties in the country, the Democrats and the Republicans. Each side does not want to associate with the other, even with those ideologies that make sense. The completion has been brought to that state of “us vs. them,” and there seems to be no point of return. Social media and media biasness fuel these differences. Some concepts explain the state of political polarization in America, and the main ones are group polarization, social cognition, and attitudes and attitude change theory. It is important to know how these concepts work if there is any determination to end political polarization in America.
References
Alvernia University. (2018, May 1). Group Polarization in Social Psychology. Alvernia Online. https://online.alvernia.edu/articles/group-polarization-social-psychology/#:~:text=Group%20polarization%20is%20defined%20as
Bohner, G., & Dickel, N. (2011). Attitudes and Attitude Change. Annual Review of Psychology, 62(1), 391–417. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.121208.131609
DeSilver, D. (2022, March 10). The polarization in today’s Congress has roots that go back decades. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/
Heltzel, G., & Laurin, K. (2020). Polarization in America: Two possible futures. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34(1), 179–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.03.008
Jost, J. T., Baldassarri, D. S., & Druckman, J. N. (2022). Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts. Nature Reviews Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00093-5
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