The 'Great Divide': Understanding US Political Polarization – Syracuse University Today

The ‘Great Divide’: Understanding US Political Polarization  Syracuse University Today

Johanna Dunaway, research director at Syracuse University's Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship and a political science professor, explains how partisan viewpoints, news consumption and misperceptions fuel America's divisions. Americans increasingly see the country as more divided than at any time since the Civil War. Pew Research Center polling reveals a sharp rise in partisan hostility: in 2022, 72% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats viewed the opposing party as more immoral than other Americans—up dramatically from 47% and 35% in 2016. Johanna Dunaway, research director at the University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship and professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, studies this divide and its threat to democracy.

Her research, supported by a 2024 Carnegie Fellowship, provides insights into how America reached this point and what recent government dysfunction reveals about our country’s political health. Dunaway points out several key factors, starting with a fundamental misperception problem, for why America has become so politically divided. “Much of the polarization that escalated in recent decades was largely driven by misperceptions people have about ordinary partisans on the other side—the everyday people in your neighborhood or office who happen to support the other party. The political leaders who receive the most media attention are usually the more extreme members of their party, left