Polarization, that is, the separation and clustering of political attitudes, is good for democracy in small doses.
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However, excessive polarization leads people to disregard views different from their own, making it hard to achieve democratic solutions to societal problems.
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America has reached record-high levels of polarization, and is now excessively polarized.
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Theory and evidence suggest two possible futures: polarization decreases and stabilizes, or it self-reinforces, increasing further.
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Interventions should correct misperceptions of polarization resulting from stereotypes, extremists, poll bias, and negativity.
The rise of polarization over the past 25 years has many Americans worried about the state of politics. This worry is understandable: up to a point, polarization can help democracies, but when it becomes too vast, such that entire swaths of the population refuse to consider each other’s views, this thwarts democratic methods for solving societal problems. Given widespread polarization in America, what lies ahead? We describe two possible futures, each based on different sets of theory and evidence. On one hand, polarization may be on a self-reinforcing upward trajectory fueled by misperception and avoidance; on the other hand it may have recently reached the apex of its pendulum swing. We conclude that it is too early to know which future we are approaching, but that our ability to address misperceptions may be one key factor.
