Res, thanks for sharing as that was a fascinating read.
Like you this bit caught me by surprise:
Res Ipsa wrote:There are some conclusions that surprised me. One is that the folks who are least attached to democracy and most likely to prefer authoritarianism are not those at the ideological extremes — it is the centrists (people who subscribe to views from the left and the right — that are least attached to democracy.
The most relevant section on that from the article in case folks didn't want to wade through the whole thing but were interested:
From the link wrote:A consistent misunderstanding is that people who hold views from both sides of the aisle are moderates. In fact, survey findings from the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group found that Americans who held the least polarized ideological beliefs were actually the voting cohort least in favor of democracy and most supportive of a “strong leader” who did not need to bother with Congress or elections. The preponderance of Americans who respond to ideological survey questions with answers on both sides of the aisle tend to be pro–economic redistribution (for their group) while also upholding a White, Christian, U.S.-born norm of American citizenship.206 These voters were long (and correctly) classified as swing voters, although they have since 2016 moved more decisively into the Republican Party. But these former swing voters are often erroneously classified as centrist or moderates by surveyors because they hold cross-partisan beliefs. They are better viewed not as moderates but as disgruntled, not very intense on policy or partisanship, and only very loosely attached to democracy.
There wasn't much of a surprise to me in the "how" of reducing affective polarization; Correcting misconceptions about party's demographics and ideological beliefs, forming a stronger linked narrative (we've talked about that ad nauseam here), bringing like groups together in a controlled way on an activity to foster understanding. All things that seem very practical and reasonable but then you have this:
Reducing affective polarization through these lab experiments and games has not been shown to affect regular Americans’ support for antidemocratic candidates, support for antidemocratic behaviors, voting behavior, or support for political violence.
Pulling it back to "what can I do?", a few takeaways In no particular order:
- Support and encourage others to engage media outlets that aren't stoking the politicization or anti-democratic sentiments
- The same but for politicians.
- Continue to work to bridge communication gaps between those around me. Working to do my part to 1)not give in to easy misconceptions about others and 2) seek to undo those misconceptions when presented the opportunity.
