Americans are increasingly divided when it comes to politics. In Congress, there are virtually no liberal Republicans or conservative Democrats and very few moderates. Among the public, Americans have become more sorted, with less overlap between those holding liberal or conservative positions on a variety of issues. Furthermore, there is growing animosity between supporters of each party as self-identified Republicans and Democrats increasingly dislike and disapprove of partisans in the other party. Although some scholars quibble about how to characterize or even name these trends, it is clear that something has changed in recent decades, and politics is being increasingly waged on partisan terms and in acrimonious ways.
At the same time, over the last two decades, there has been a marked increase in political advertising–the most visible form of political discourse for most Americans. And, not only has the volume of advertising increased, but the tone has turned more negative. Is it possible that these two parallel trends are related? CONT.
Travis N. Ridout, Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael Franz & Ken Goldstein, LSE USAPP