With growing polarization, political attitudes have begun to coincide with moral convictions. Partisans increasingly view each other as immoral. New research reveals the depth of that conviction.
Republican elites have embraced Trump as their leader.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
A second Trump presidency may be a danger to democracy, but that’s more to do with the Republican Party than Trump himself, researchers of authoritarianism explain.
“Woke” is today’s “political correctness.” But even though the terminology has changed, the misconceptions remain.
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We need to contemplate wokeness so as to avoid polarizing polemics and to increase mutual understanding.
Aristotle is considered the founder of political science. He probably wouldn’t be surprised at the state of political discourse in modern times.
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Aristotle believed that the biggest and most widespread source of political tension is the struggle between the haves and the have-nots. More than 2,000 years later, he’s got a point.
Social media pushes evolutionary buttons.
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Social media companies’ drive to keep you on their platforms clashes with how people evolved to learn from each other. One result is more conflict and misinformation.
Under 10% of political donations from academic scholars go to Republican causes.
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People tend not to think that their own emotions could simply be wrong. But research shows that people excessively dislike others who disagree with them.
Protesters, supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, storm the National Congress building in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023.
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Populism has been unleashed. We’re beyond the stop-gap measures of small-step reform or pragmatic centrist liberalism. What’s next? We’re about to find out.
The Foreign Ministers Josep Borrell of the EU, James Cleverly of Great Britain, Yoshimasa Hayashi of Japan, Antony Blinken of the U.S., Annalena Baerbock of Germany, Melanie Joly of Canada, Catherine Colonna of France, and Antonio Tajani of Italy, at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Münster, Germany, on Oct. 3, 2022.
(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Deliberately crafting economic relationships with countries that share similar political and social values with Canada has emerged as a tool to address current geopolitical issues.
Twitter users who are fleeing to the social media platform Mastodon are finding it to be a different animal.
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The turmoil at Twitter has many people turning to an alternative, Mastodon. The social media platform does a lot of what Twitter and Facebook do, but there are key differences.
Hands across the divide: a statue in Northern Ireland.
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We talk to a political scientist and a philosopher about how to bring countries back from dangerous levels of polarisation. Listen to The Conversation Weekly.
Over three-quarters of U.S. adults say they think scientists act in the public interest.
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It’s tempting to focus on the minority of Americans who hold negative views about scientists. But blaming others for their lack of trust won’t build the relationships that can boost trust.
School trustees play an important role in shaping education, yet during election time voters often have little awareness of trustee candidates.
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According to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, far-right groups have been trying to stack school boards with candidates harbouring anti-equity ideologies.
A voter and her child cast a ballot during the midterm primary elections in Virginia in June 2022.
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A record amount is being spent on political advertising in the midterm elections. But evidence shows that negative ads might work counteractively, discouraging voters from casting ballots altogether.
Saying you feel a strong national allegiance doesn’t mean you will act accordingly.
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Studies of online echo chambers don’t paint the full picture of Americans’ political segregation. New research shows that the problem is more Fox News Channel and MSNBC than Facebook and Twitter.
While it’s true that the “freedom convoy” revealed deep political polarization, it’s also true that it has provided us with the opportunity to create a more inclusive and participatory democracy.
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Rather than tolerating divisiveness and intolerance, we can and we should embrace this important moment to create a more participatory form of democracy.
The impact of political stress on mental health needs to be probed more deeply.
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Even before the pandemic, divisive politics was affecting mental health, and political topics were being raised in therapy. Now, patients want therapists that share their views.
The Department of Justice indicted six officers of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service in October 2020 on charges of hacking and deploying malware.
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Russia probably has the means to attack US electrical grids and otherwise create havoc but probably won’t go that far. Instead, watch for disinformation aimed at undermining the US and NATO.
Protesters and counter-protesters face off at a political rally in September 2021.
AP Photo/Nathan Howard
Deep-seated disagreement is healthy for a democracy. But when people lose the ability to navigate those differences, they risk seeking anti-democratic unity of thought.