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Apr 16, 2024 · It is widely agreed that the increased polarization many countries experience is bad for democracy. However, existing assessments of how polarization affects democracy operate with simplified understandings of both polarization and democracy.
- A Simple Model of Opinion Change
- The Outsized Effects of Tolerance
- Exposure to Differing Points of View Isn’T Always The Solution
- Even Weak Incentives For Non-Polarized Opinions Can Stem The Tide
- Understanding Shocks: 9/11 vs. Covid-19
Our Attraction-Repulsion Model (ARM) is an agent-based model of opinion change. These types of models formalize assumptions about how individuals interact with one another and change their political ideologies, and then investigate the consequences of those assumptions. In Axelrod’s widely-researched culture model, for example, “agents” can adopt c...
Consistent with our democratic and pluralistic intuition, the ARM model shows that a society’s level of tolerance strongly influences the trajectory of polarization. Low tolerance among actors causes flurries of repulsive interactions and the rapid onset of extreme polarization, while moderate to high tolerance does the opposite. How, then, do we f...
Notions such as “we have more in common than we have differences” or “if you knew me better, you wouldn’t say the hateful things you say” appeal to mutual understanding as an antidote to intolerance. Under this view, we could cure national schisms by breaking out of our homogeneous neighborhoods and information echo chambers to learn from those who...
Unlike the agents in our model that are attracted and repulsed freely along the ideological spectrum, humans have social and cultural values that act as anchors to positions that, sometimes, serve their own interest. This is especially true when a person’s stake in a policy outcome is clear, such as a small business owner being more likely to oppos...
As the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Is polarization mitigated—even temporarily—in the face of external shocks such as war, climate disasters, or economic crises? According to our model, it depends. Specifically, crises unite a population only if they occur before the onset of extreme polarization or if the effects of such cris...
Apr 16, 2024 · Though it can be frustrating, political polarization is not necessarily dysfunctional. It even can be beneficial, offering true choices for voters and policymakers alike. Deep-seated disagreement can be healthy for democracy, after all. The clash of opinions can help us find the truth.
This article proposes an explanation according to which political polarization undermines the public’s ability to serve as a democratic check: In polarized electorates, voters are willing to trade off democratic principles for partisan interests.
Oct 31, 2018 · Our research shows that the most democratic of actions – participating in elections – is exactly the thing to do to help reduce polarization.
- Jennifer Lynn Mccoy
Jun 9, 2023 · In a first step, I delineate the basic parameters of debate by distinguishing between cluster-analytic and conflict-analytic approaches and by specifying the generic type of political conflict that characterizes the polarization of democratic polities.
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Jul 16, 2022 · NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Didi Kuo of Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law about how political polarization is threatening democracy.
