Political Polarization Definition

Polarization can have several meanings. In general, polarization is the division of political ideologies within a group of people. When talking about politics, polarization can be broken down into two different types of polarization. One is concerning the political elites and the politically engaged. Abramowitz (2010) would say that this is correct because he argues that polarization is the inability of the two parties (Republican and Democratic) to work together because they have opposing views on ideologies (p. 2). The other would be concerning the general public. Polarization can be defined by stating that the public is deeply divided between the political ideologies of the Republican and Democratic parties. Levendusky (2009) is a supporter of this by stating “Polarization, on the other hand, means that voters are adopting more ideologically extreme positions. In a polarized electorate, attitudes are no longer primarily centrist but rather pushed towards the ideological extremes.

One argument is that polarization is more prevalent among people who are well-educated. Well-educated people are typically going to be well-informed when voting. Abramowitz (2010) displayed two graphs which display the leniency towards conservatism or liberalism of high school graduates and college graduates. Nearly half of those with a high school education were located close to the center by leaning one way or the other. Less than one-third of college graduates were in that middle region. Clearly, the opinions of college graduates are much more polarized. Another argument is that the public is now able to be more certain of knowing a candidates political ideology by simply knowing the party of the candidate. This allows voters to be informed without spending extra time away from their daily lives. Voters don’t necessarily need to research a single candidate but instead know what the party stands