Voters Aren t the Problem. It s the Media and Political Institutions.
These social scientific theories and findings make intuitive sense and are consistent with much of human history: people are tribal and tend to sort themselves into us vs them groups based on identity and shape their opinions, beliefs, and actions accordingly.
But individual level causes alone seem insufficient for explaining rising partisan animosity in American life. After all, human beings weren t any different or less hardwired for tribalism in 1994 than they were in 2022. And other advanced democracies have the same challenges as the U.S. but without the intense partisan divides, culture wars, and mutual loathing based on politics.
So why do Republicans and Democrats today hate the other side so much more intensely than just a few decades ago?
Short answer: the media and political institutions did it.