Polarization (politics) - Definitions of Polarization

Definitions of Polarization

The term polarization comes from political science. There, it is a measure of the electorate's response to a political figure or position; it is not an assessment of, or a value judgment upon, a political figure. It does not mean that a political figure is necessarily unelectable. Political figures can receive a polarized response from the public through actions of their own, through historical trends or accidents, or due to external forces such as media bias. political scientist note growing polarization in the U.S. electorate. Party identifiers have become more militant, as have dislikes and slurs against the other party. Although the trend was under way for some time, by the 1990s Republicans despised Clinton even when the economy boomed. In the 2008 election, Republicans and democrats were hostile to each other.

In the context of political campaign advertising, negative ads can lead to attitude polarization among voters.

Political scientists principally measure polarization in two ways. One is "plain" or generic polarization, often referred to as popular polarization, which happens when opinions diverge towards poles of distribution or intensity. Political scientists use several kinds of metrics to measure popular polarization, such as the American National Election Studies' "feeling thermometer" polls, which measure the degree of opinion about a political figure.

The other form that political scientists examine is partisan polarization, which happens when support for a political figure or position differentiates itself along political party lines.

Popular media definitions and uses of "polarization" tend to be looser.