We regularly hear that American politics is polarized.
Those doing the talking mean very different things by the term.
Some look at any 50/50 division as “polarized,” though such a definition does not comport particularly well with the history of the term.
For others, polarization refers to deep differences. That is, the spread of increasingly extreme views.
The Pew Research Center adopted an idiosyncratic definition that sees polarization as increasing ideological consistency.
Finally, some focus on the hostility of partisans toward each other.
I believe these last three are intimately related and that relationship explains something about our politics. CONT.
Mark Mellman (Mellman Group), The Hill