Two things are often stated about American politics: political elites are increasingly polarized, and that the issue positions of the masses haven’t budged much. Assuming such to be the case, one expects the average distance between where partisans place themselves and where they place the ‘in-party’ (or the ‘out-party’) to increase. However, it appears that the distance to the in-party has remained roughly constant, while the distance to the out-party has grown, in line with what one expects from the theory of ‘affective polarization’ and group-based perception. (Read More: Still Close: Perceived Ideological Distance to Own and Main Opposing Party)
Moving Away From the Main Opposing Party
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