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Everyone is frustrated with the current political climate. Whether you’re on the left, right, middle or something else all together, our country continues to divide. The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated the crisis of political polarization in the United States, and it starts with our social media feeds.

Political leaders have been increasingly unwilling to work across party lines in recent years, and the carefully curated feed that social media platforms provide has a tendency to exacerbate polarity by showing you what you already agree with or vehemently disagree with.

The demonization of the members of another party — both online and in real life — stagnates the progress that is able to be made toward national unity and good policy. To Emily Thorson, an assistant professor of political science at Syracuse University, the rise in our emotional identification with political ideology contributes greatly to the increasing polarity.

“The evidence is very strong for a huge increase in affective polarization, the idea that Republicans have started to dislike Democrats more and Democrats have started to dislike Republicans more,” Thornson said. “(This is due to) partisanship becom(ing) much more a part of people’s social identity, so if you are a Republican and someone is criticizing Republicans, you feel as though they are criticizing you.”  

This trend of affective polarization is reflected in a study done on the importance of the ideological views of people’s romantic partners. Nearly 75% of Democrats say they would be unwilling to date someone who expressed views about President Donald Trump that were different from their own. I’m not saying you have to marry your political or ideological opposite, but we might all benefit from some civil discourse.

 

In a digital age where so much political conversation and conflict happens over the internet, social media solidifies and reaffirms your feelings, said Louis Kriesberg, professor emeritus of sociology at SU. This also creates a pluralist “us versus them” culture that can limit you to a very homogeneous social network and have damaging effects on our democracy, said Richard Braungart, a professor emeritus of sociology at SU.

Our social networks are often racially homogeneous, too. For example, over three quarters of white Americans report their core social network to include only white people, and nearly 60% of Black Americans report fully homogeneous core social networks as well.

We must recognize social media’s role in increasing polarization and separation and take an active stance on diversifying our network, engaging in and recognizing the complexity of others’ perspectives.

Thorson encourages people to model the kind of civil discourse they wish to see more of.  When those who are capable of respectful discourse detach, “you cede that ground to people with the most extreme views,” she said.

What is often left out of the conversation is the importance of hearing multiple sides of an issue. Election season in an increasingly-polarized society causes us to lose sight of the value and importance of the Democratic viewpoint, the Republican viewpoint and everything in between.

Both Democrats and Republicans form a balance on change and stability, as social psychologist Jonathan Haidt discusses in a TedTalk. Globally, liberals’ morality is centered mainly around harm and fairness, while conservatives value the same concepts — though a little less than liberals — along with order, loyalty and purity. Both parties have something to contribute.

With the increasing self-segregation and emotional attachment to our political ideologies, we move further from collaboration and cooperation and closer to destruction in the face of conflict. It’s important to reflect and listen as issues grow more complex, Kriesberg said.

“It is a mistake to keep doing things the way you’ve done it. We oftentimes forget to look for and work towards the mutual benefit that might occur if there was change,” he said. “I think that is a good opening to then explore the possibility of thinking freshly and comprehensively about conflicts, and learning how to listen is critical in that.”

Citizenship is rooted in action, Braungart said.

“Communicate responsibly. There is nothing wrong with disagreement,” he said. “You can debate them and learn from them and hopefully establish good public policy that’s based on facts that can resolve the problems that we face today.”

Liberals and conservatives, you have more in common with your partisan neighbor and need each other more than you think for a well functioning democracy. Let’s try to set our emotions aside. Listen to learn, understand and move forward together.
Andrea Lan is a junior finance major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at [email protected].

Published on October 25, 2020 at 11:54 pm