Political parties have lost their power and ability to control their candidates, moderates are not getting involved in politics from the very beginning of the political process, and social media has drastically changed the way we conduct politics. The answer lies more in the systematic changes in American politics that we have seen over the last few decades. But how did this happen? Many want to point the finger at simply the shifting of ideologies in the political parties and growing resentment of what’s seen as the “other side.” This is too simplistic of an answer. Polarization and extremism of the two major political parties have taken the forefront, while moderates have faded back into the shadows. Ideological overlap between the two parties has become a thing of the past. Clearly what is considered “average” ideologically for both parties has drastically shifted over the last few decades. Keep in mind, these studies were about average Democrats and Republicans, not those at the most extreme ends of the party. The gap in these opinions has also doubled over the last 25 years 8. In 2014, only two decades later, those numbers have shrunk to just 4% and 5% respectively. In the same year, 23% of Republicans were more liberal than the average, median Democrat and 17% of Democrats were more conservative than the median Republican. In 1994, the average, median Democrat was to the left of only 64% of Republicans, and the average, median Republican was more conservative than 70% of Democrats. When we compare these numbers to those gathered in 1994, we can see how small the ideological overlap has become. The average, median Democrat is now more liberal than 92% of Republicans. Pew Research has found that the average, median Republican is now more conservative than nearly 94% of Democrats. When looking at recent history, we can see how ideologies have become more hard-lined. As more and more Americans are consistent ideologically with one end of the political spectrum, there leaves little room for moderate independents, or moderates who lean slightly towards one political ideology to have their beliefs and concerns heard. The number of Americans who are ideologically consistent, or those that hold straight-line liberal or conservative attitudes across a range of issues, has doubled over the past two decades 7. So why does it seem as though we rarely hear from the political center anymore? Political scholars have begun to conclude more and more that the political center may not be disappearing as commonly believed 6. Their numbers have actually stayed quite consistent over the last few decades 5.
Studies show that political independents and moderates have not just up and disappeared. Polarization has become the new normal, or so it seems. More and more these days, extreme ideologies have taken center stage. For example, the last time a third-party candidate carried a state in a presidential election was over 50 years ago 4. In government, it has become rare to see an independent elected to office. And yet, outside of election season, we don’t hear too much about independent voters or more moderate ideological voters. They are a crucial political prize to be won over by either party in any election. We hear a lot about this group in the media when election season rolls around, and it’s easy to see why. Political independents are 38% of the voting electorate, a larger percentage than either Democrats or Republicans 3. A large portion of the American population describes themselves as politically independent. Polarization in this country and the gridlock it has caused has been a hotly discussed topic in every election in recent memory. The systematic changes in American politics over the last few decades have allowed moderates to go ignored and ultimately our democracy threatened.Īsk anyone about polarization in American politics and they will probably all agree that the United States is more divided politically than ever before. Much of the polarization discussion is painted as a strictly ideological issue, leaving the root of the problem ignored. Yet as public attention remains on the two major parties moving farther away from the center, focus on the shrinking number of moderate Americans has been neglected to the point where they have been referred to as “politically homeless,” as they increasingly don’t seem to fit in with the growing extremes in both major parties 2. Studies show that political parties have in fact become more divided ideologically than ever, and more Americans that belong to one political party view the opposing party with disdain 1. Political polarization in the United States has been one of the main issues at the forefront of American politics.