Uncivil Agreement

Lilliana Mason argues that American polarization has moved beyond arguments about policy. Party has become a social identity, and the gap between Democrats and Republicans now follows racial, religious and cultural lines. Drawing on research into group identity, she shows why voters who agree on policy outcomes can still view each other with distrust and put party victory above everything else. These divisions have raised political engagement, she finds, but on balance they have not been good for American democracy.