US Political Polarization

Background

Modern media has an endless supply of content showcasing the polarizing and radical political opinions of the country’s two-party system. The younger Citizens and generations are feeling a compulsion to tribalism and segregation without the ability to counteract the historical negationism of our political composition prior to the 1970s.

Millennials are the leading workforce generation and a significant voting body for the country. The last election in 2022 noted a significant voter turnout of Generation Z (Gen Z), once again changing the paradigm of American politics.

Millennials are familiar with our changing Government, having lived through several major events affecting our culture and lifestyle, including the 9/11 attacks, Black Lives Matter movement, the Housing Financial Crash of 2008, and most recently, COVID-19. They also saw the aftermath of the Vietnam war and the fall of the Soviet Union through their parents. Millennials lived through the transition to our modern digital era, knowing a lifestyle before and after the integration of devices we now take as commonplace.

There is a sense of political tension that has become standard in our country; an *us versus them* mentality which is creating a self-fueled division in society. This report aims to identify this division as non-standard and thereby claim its existence is unacceptable and worth of purging from our communities.

Findings

This report was successful in meeting all its goals and was able to establish multiple key results. The dictated methodology provided a solid structure to evaluate within without a negative impact on outcomes.

Polarization Began in 1969 with the end of the American New Deal era. There were several major political and sociological events impacting the US which have a strong correlation of effect to the timing of this change.
Congress is independent of actions from its successors or predecessors.
Right-wing radicalization of conservative views is a strong driver of the political polarization.