Contexts Discoveries

Article: Dynamics of Political Polarization. American Sociological Review, October 2007

Summary: This article deals with two “puzzling paradoxes.” The first is the simultaneous absence and presence of attitude polarization; the notion that global attitude polarization if rare, yet pundits typically describe it as commonplace. The second is the simultaneous presence and absence of social polarization; while individuals typically have very little difference in attitude from those that make up their social/interpersonal networks, their larger networks are nonetheless characterized by considerable differences in attitude. These paradoxes are resolved through the understanding of a few key concepts. The first is what the authors term “take off” issues: those issues that for a very short period demand attention and appaear to radically polarize the populus, such as the Iraq war or  stem cell research. It is also essential to understand that not only may  people have conflicting views and opinions  in their own thoughts, people are highly selective in the issues they discuss with others. As such, people are much less likely to discuss “takeoff” issues with those whose opinions they are unfamiliar with or knowingly opposed to. In combination, these factors explain why people see so little polarization in their day-to-day lives, et hear so much about the polarized world they live in from television commentators.