Preparing public administrators and policy analysts for a polarized world

Political polarization affects the daily work of public administrators. Despite its global prevalence, the public administration teaching literature has given little attention to how students can be prepared to work in polarized environments. We describe how we teach key components of polarization including theories of political polarization, the role of narratives in deepening polarization, the impact of social media, and the influence of cognitive biases on the power of political narratives. Next, we introduce four tools designed to help students confront polarization in their professional roles followed by a class-tested case study that demonstrates how students can apply course concepts in practice. We conclude with twelve key lessons learned from teaching the course.