Our Common Bonds - Using What Americans Share to Help Bridge the Partisan Divide

"One of the defining features of twenty-first century American politics has been the rise of affective polarization: Americans increasingly report that they distrust and dislike those from the other party and want to avoid interacting with them in a wide range seemingly non-political contexts, from Thanksgiving dinners to dating. This has damaging downstream consequences: many studies and evidence from our everyday lives shows that affective polarization reduces electoral accountability, weakens support for the democratic norms, and makes it more difficult for Americans to responded to crises, such as COVID-19. What, if anything, can be done? Our Common Bonds shows that-although affective polarization has multiple causes and there is no silver bullet that will eradicate it-there are concrete interventions that can reduce it. Matthew Levendusky argues that partisan animus stems in part from individuals misperceiving how much they have in common with those from the other party. Survey and experimental evidence show that priming shared identities and connections outside of politics can help people to reframe the lens through which they evaluate the out-party and, in so doing, turn down the partisan temperature"--

About the author

Matthew Levendusky is professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also holds the Stephen and Mary Baran Chair in the Institutions of Democracy at the Annenberg Public Policy Center. His books include The Partisan Sort and How Partisan Media Polarize America. He is also the coauthor of We Need to Talk (with Dominik Stecula) and Democracy Amid Crises (Annenberg IOD Collaborative).

Product details

• Authors: Matthew Levendusky, Levendusky Matthew
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.03.2023
• EAN: 9780226824703
• ISBN: 978-0-226-82470-3
• No. of pages: 224
• Series: Chicago Studies in American Politics
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; USA, Political Parties, Political Ideologies, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / Political Parties, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / General, United States of America, USA, Political ideologies and movements, Political parties and party platforms