Political Polarization

Political polarization is a huge and dangerous problem in America. Behind each large political issue that America faces currently is a giant gap between parties. This problem has been building up for decades and poses a big threat to the U.S. If we can’t find a way to lessen political polarization, the major issues for America will take much longer to be solved.
According to a survey of 10,000 adults by the Pew Research Center, 92% of Republicans are to the right of the median Democrat, and 94% of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican today. Twenty years ago, each party was an average of 67 percent to the left or right of the opposite party’s median. These numbers clearly show us that just within the last 20 years, political polarization has reached a critical level.
What this means for the American public is large disagreement on important topics, causing these topics to go unresolved. Another study by the PRC shows that Democrats and Republicans have a hard time even agreeing what issues present big problems for the U.S. Under 25 percent of Republicans believe that issues like gun control, climate change, and the gap between rich and poor are not ‘very big’ problems in American, while over 72 percent of Democrats believe they are.

If Americans can’t even agree on whether certain issues are a problem in our country, how are we supposed to fix those problems? Not only does political polarization pose a threat when it comes to solving pressing issues, but it also affects how people view each other. Strong partisan affiliation results in people of each party disliking those of the other party, which results in an inability to civilly debate about political problems, which results in unsolved issues. If we can’t find a way to stop this vicious cycle, American politics will essentially fall apart.

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