Library Resources on Polarization
These books explores the causes and effects of the increasing political and cultural polarization of the United States.
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Network Propaganda by Call Number: JK526 2016 .B46ISBN: 9780190923624Publication Date: 2018-10-15A comprehensive examination of political communication in the United States that also traces the roots of increased polarization in the United States. -
Why We're Polarized by Call Number: HN90.P57 K54ISBN: 9781476700328Publication Date: 2020-01-28In this book, Klein explores the roots of increased polarization in American politics and cultural life.
Web Resources on Polarization
Check out these online resources for more analysis of political and cultural polarization of the U.S.
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Trumpism After Trump? How Fox News Structures Republican Attitudes
This report from the Public Religion Research Institute presents demographic and self-reported opinion data on Fox News viewers, including President Trump's overall approval rating, approval for his handling of specific issues, and approval ratings for several other politicians. The authors find that Republicans who report trusting Fox News more than other news sources approve of Trump at a higher rate than any other group, including other Republicans. -
U.S. Media Polarization and the 2020 Election: A Nation Divided
In the runup to the 2020 election, the Pew Research Center released this report on Americans' trust in news sources. They found that Americans are sharply divided along partisan lines in their sources of news. -
Are Social Media Driving Political Polarization?
This article from the University of California Berkley's Greater Good Center examines the relationship between social media and political polarization.
Video Resource on Political Polarization
Red and Blue Realities: Political Discourse and the 2020 Election
In this talk from November of 2020, researchers Yochai Benkler and Rob Faris of the Berkman Klein Center discuss the disinformation around mail-in voting in the 2020 presidential election. More broadly, they discuss how the structure of our fragmented media ecosystem can support radically different narratives about the election.
Video Resource on Political Polarization
United States of Conspiracy
This video from PBS Frontline explores the rise of conspiracy theories in the United States, including its move from the fringes of politics to its center
Research Reports
Check out this collection of online research into the growing cultural and political divide.
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Social Media, Political Polarization, and Political Disinformation: A Review of the Scientific Literature
This report by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation summarizes and assesses the current state of research on the relationship between social media, political polarization, and disinformation/misinformation online. -
Political Effects of the Internet and Social Media
The authors of this study, published in 2020 by Annual Review of Political Science, review the current body of research about online media's impact on U.S. politics. -
The Origins and Consequences of Affective Polarization in the United States
Published in 2019 by Annual Reviews of Political Science, this study examines the ways in which political affiliation has become increasingly tied up with broader social identity in recent decades, and the consequences of that combination. -
Political Partisanship as Social Identity
The authors of this 2017 study examine the ways questions of identity and social networks impact political beliefs, and the electoral consequences of these impacts.
