Political polarization
Political polarization (spelled polarisation in British English, African and Caribbean English, and New Zealand English) is the divergence of political attitudes away from the center, towards ideological extremes.[1][2][3] Scholars distinguish between ideological polarization (differences between the policy positions) and affective polarization (an emotional dislike and distrust of political out-groups).[4]
For the social psychology concept, see Group polarization.Most discussions of polarization in political science consider polarization in the context of political parties and democratic systems of government. In two-party systems, political polarization usually embodies the tension of its binary political ideologies and partisan identities.[1][2][3][5][6][7] However, some political scientists assert that contemporary polarization depends less on policy differences on a left and right scale but increasingly on other divisions such as religious against secular, nationalist against globalist, traditional against modern, or rural against urban.[8] Polarization is associated with the process of politicization.[9]