,
12 tweets,
8 min read
Read on Twitter
THREAD: The rise of political tribalism might be overstated, according to political scientist @MattGrossmann. niskanencenter.org/blog/political…
Since the 2016 election, there HAS been a real rise in negative partisanship...and party bias may even have economic consequences. BUT there are a few caveats: soundcloud.com/user-735940457…
1.When answering questions about opposing parties, citizens tend to think more about political leaders than their fellow citizens. And many citizens dislike BOTH parties’ leaders.
2. A concerning indicator of tribalism is the number of partisans saying that they would not approve their child marrying someone from the other party. But this may be due to the fear that someone from the opposing party will talk too much about politics. academic.oup.com/poq/article-ab…
Partisan bias is a growing concern, however, and as more Americans become disengaged with politics, the debate is left to the rapid partisans, who are then able to drive the parties further apart.
Grossmann finds that this bias against opposing parties tends to be driven mostly by elites, the media, and pundits. The individuals within each group tend to follow the lead of those that are apt to drive them apart. Geographic polarization is another important factor.
So there is a rising sense of animosity between parties, and this is becoming more apparent even in non-political situations. However, public presentation of the research seems to have oversold the notion of tribalism itself annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.114…
If anything, ordinary Americans are just tired of politics. Elites and geographical separation seem to be driving factors partisanship…not tribalism or the inherent dislike between two groups.
.@MattGrossmann predicts many more heated discussions about politics. But there’s no civil war looming on the horizon. niskanencenter.org/blog/political… #Tribalism #2020Election #polarization #politics #media #SocSciResearch
For more resources -here's a piece by @Edsall that provides a less optimistic take: nytimes.com/2018/03/01/opi…
And the Niskanen Center's #ScienceOfPolitics podcast regularly discusses issues relating to political #tribalism and #polarization. This conversation between John Barry Ryan, Liliana Mason, and @MattGrossmann is especially pertinent. soundcloud.com/user-735940457…
(May be of interest to @jcrohsaine, @Lindsey_brink, @jerry_jtaylor, @RuleandRuin, @willwilkinson, @hamandcheese, @DaveAHopkins, @pmiller1693, @adkinsjm , @FabianNeuner, @Nicholas_Haas_1)
