Political polarization

Political polarization is the divergence of political attitudes, beliefs, or identities into increasingly opposed camps. It can involve policy positions, social identities, or both.

Affective polarization: The tendency to dislike and distrust people associated with opposing political parties. It captures how political division can become hostility toward opposing partisans, beyond disagreement over policy.
Gridlock: A condition in which political institutions cannot reach decisions or enact policy. Deep partisan conflict can make legislative compromise and action harder.
Political fragmentation: The division of political representation among numerous parties or competing groups. Fragmentation concerns the number and dispersion of groups, not necessarily distance between opposing camps.
United States political polarization: The growing ideological and partisan division between political groups in the United States. The United States is a widely studied case of increasing partisan and affective polarization.
Elite polarization: The widening ideological distance between elected officials and political leaders. The extent to which elite conflict drives mass polarization remains contested.
Ideological polarization: The widening separation between political groups’ policy positions or ideological beliefs. It describes polarization as substantive distance between political positions.
Democratic backsliding: The gradual weakening of democratic institutions, rights, and political competition. Polarization can weaken support for democratic constraints when opponents are seen as existential threats.
Political sectarianism: A pattern of political identity marked by othering, aversion, and moralization of opposing groups. It describes a particularly hostile form of identity-based division.
Brazilian political polarization: The sharp division of Brazilian political life into opposing partisan and ideological camps. Brazil illustrates how polarization can organize political identity beyond established party loyalties.
Mass polarization: The widening political divisions among ordinary citizens. Measures of mass polarization can differ depending on whether they track policy views or partisan feelings.

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