Political polarization

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Political polarization (spelt polarisation in British English, Australian English, and New Zealand English) is the divergence of political attitudes away from the center, towards ideological extremes. Scholars distinguish between ideological polarization (differences in the policy positions) and affective polarization (an emotional dislike and distrust of political out-groups). Most discussions of polarization in political science consider polarization in the context of political parties and democratic systems of government. In two-party systems, political polarization usually embodies the tension of its binary political ideologies and partisan identities. However, some political scientists assert that contemporary polarization is less dependent on policy differences between left-wing and right-wing ideologies and is increasingly influenced by other divisions, such as religious against secular, nationalist against globalist, traditional against modern, or rural against urban. Polarization...

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