Topline
The share of Democrats and Republicans who view members of the opposite party negatively and the proportion of Americans who are disillusioned with both parties are both up significantly, according to a poll published Tuesday afternoon by Pew Research Center, providing evidence of an increasingly politically divided America.
A protestor chants against counting votes in Michigan during the 2020 election.
Key Facts
Respondents from both parties have become more likely to view their political opponents in a negative light since 2016, when Donald Trump beat Hilary Clinton in a contentious election, according to the poll, which was conducted just over a month ago.
Some 83% of Democrats said Republicans are somewhat or a lot more close-minded than other Americans (up 13 points since 2016), while 64% see Republicans as more dishonest (a 22-point jump since 2016), 63% say Republicans are more immoral (up 28 points), 26% say Republicans are lazier (up 8 points) and 52% think Republicans are less intelligent (up 19 points).
Similarly, 69% of Republicans now think Democrats are more close-minded than other Americans (a 17-point increase from 2016), 72% think Democrats are more dishonest (up 27 points), 72% see Democrats as more immoral (a 25-point jump), 62% think Democrats are lazier (up 16 points) and 51% believe Democrats are less intelligent (up 19 points).
Some 62% of Republican and 54% of Democrats view the other party very unfavorably overall, in line with data from recent years but a stark change from the 21% and 17% very-unfavorable marks among Republicans and Democrats respectively in the poll’s first year, 1994.
The share of respondents with an unfavorable view of both parties is now at 27%, an all-time high and up from 21% in 2019, while 39% of people said the belief that there should be more political parties describes their views extremely or very well.
The poll was conducted June 27 to July 4, among 6,174 adults.
Key Background
Political polarization has risen faster in the U.S. over the last four decades than in peer countries, according to a 2020 working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research studying 12 developed countries with democracies. The paper, which looked at 149 political surveys conducted between the late 1970s and 2020, found that polarization fell in six countries in the time frame and rose in the six others, rising the fastest in the U.S. Even though nearly four in ten Americans told Pew they want more political parties, a third-party presidential candidate has not won any electoral votes since 1968. A group of former Democratic and Republican lawmakers led by 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and former Governor Christine Todd Whitman (R-N.J.) formed the centrist Forward party last month.
Tangent
The Pew survey follows several polls showing a majority of Americans do not want either Trump or President Joe Biden, the favorites to win their party’s nominations, to run for reelection in 2024.
Further Reading
GOP Leaders React To FBI Raid On Mar-A-Lago With Fury—And Fundraising Pleas (Forbes)
As Partisan Hostility Grows, Signs of Frustration With the Two-Party System (Pew Research Center)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/08/09/americans-increasingly-see-political-opponents-as-dishonest-lazy-and-close-minded-poll-finds/