Electorate Isn't as Polarized as we Think

A new study, Reassessing Extremism, Polarization, and Constraint with Continuous Policy Questions, challenges the conventional wisdom about a deeply divided electorate. When Americans are allowed to express their views along a continuum rather than in binary choices, most land in the middle across a wide range of issues. The findings show meaningful overlap between Democrats and Republicans on every issue tested, with only modest average disagreement. In other words, the electorate is far less polarized than our politics often suggests.