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Can political polarization threaten American democracy?

New research suggests partisan hostility can erode democratic institutions.

Jul 22, 2024

1 min

James Druckman


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Partisan hostility in the United States is at a fever pitch and is a dominant theme in the 2024 election cycle. But how much does it matter to everyday life in America? What is really at stake?


James Druckman, a professor of political science at the University of Rochester who is widely considered one of the country's foremost experts on political polarization and its impact on American democracy, is poised to answer those questions and back up his conclusions with data. 


His latest book, Partisan Hostility and American Democracy: Explaining Political Divisions and When They Matter, outlines the potential consequences of extreme partisan animus by distilling empirical evidence gathered between 2019 and 2021. The upshot? Partisan hostility alone is unlikely to lead to the collapse of American democracy. But it nonetheless has a deleterious effect on democracy and could erode democratic institutions and functioning over time.


In the end, the book concludes, American democracy hinges more on how political leaders respond to the polarization than the polarization itself. 


Druckman has been cited by The New York Times columnist Thomas Edsall as among the political scientists in the country "working on getting us to hate one another less."  

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James Druckman

James Druckman

Martin Brewer Anderson Professor of Political Science

Druckman is an expert in American political behavior and survey methodology.

American DemocracyPolitical DividesAmerican Political CultureTrust in ScienceSurvey Methodology

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