Affective Polarization in America - Antagonistic Tribalism Tearing Democracy Apart
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2017-08-15
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en
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American politics have become highly polarized during Trump’s presidential run and administration. One of the contributing factors is affective polarization. This thesis investigates partisan hostility by combining political science with cognitive sociology. Two case studies are compared, namely Politics of Resentment by Katherine Cramer and Strangers in their own Lands by Arlie Hochschild. They are analyzed via Rogers Brubaker’ Groupness-approach. The analysis shows that hostility is caused by perceived existential threats, which are subsequently blamed on Others, instead of on structural societal forces. This is the locus of the deep ideological divide between conservative and liberal political philosophy. The mutual exclusivity of worldviews is the basis of affective polarization. Recommended for future research seeking to preserve respect for plurality in political discourse is studying and implementing Daniel Shapiro’s negotiation framework, Relational Identity Theory and the Tribes Effect.
Keywords: affective polarization, incivility, hostility, existential threat, cognitive sociology, political science
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