Affective polarization is uniformly distributed across American States

US partisans view each other with increasing negativity. While many attribute the growth of such affective polarization to nationally cross-cutting forces, such as ideological partisan sorting or access to partisan media, others emphasize the effects of contextual and institutional forces. For the first time, we introduce and explore data sufficiently granular to fully map the extent of partisan animosity across the US states. With a massive, nationally representative survey we find that, counter to expectations, variation in affective polarization across states is relatively small, and is instead largely a function of individual-level attitudinal (but not demographic) characteristics. While elections pit regions of the country against others, our results suggest affective polarization is a national, not regional, problem, requiring national interventions.

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Publication Details

Journal
PNAS Nexus
Published
2024-10-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae310
Citations
9
Primary Topic
Electoral Systems and Political Participation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
20.08

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article

Affective polarization is uniformly distributed across American States

Sean Westwood, Derek Holliday, Yphtach Lelkes
9 citations
PNAS Nexus
Electoral Systems and Political Participation
20.08
article

Affective polarization is uniformly distributed across American States

Sean Westwood, Derek Holliday, Yphtach Lelkes
article en
9 citations

Abstract

US partisans view each other with increasing negativity. While many attribute the growth of such affective polarization to nationally cross-cutting forces, such as ideological partisan sorting or access to partisan media, others emphasize the effects of contextual and institutional forces. For the first time, we introduce and explore data sufficiently granular to fully map the extent of partisan animosity across the US states. With a massive, nationally representative survey we find that, counter to expectations, variation in affective polarization across states is relatively small, and is instead largely a function of individual-level attitudinal (but not demographic) characteristics. While elections pit regions of the country against others, our results suggest affective polarization is a national, not regional, problem, requiring national interventions.

PNAS NexusVol. 3(10)
Dartmouth College (US), University of Pennsylvania (US), Stanford University (US)
Carnegie Corporation of New York, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Charles Koch Foundation
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Electoral Systems and Political Participation
20.08
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Affective polarization is uniformly distributed across American States — Sean Westwood, Derek Holliday, et al. · PNAS Nexus (2024) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS