Each week, we ask a thousand Americans a series of questions designed to shed light on polarization, respect for democracy, and support for political violence.

Ongoing since
SEP2022
127K
responses
77K
unique respondents
56%
are strongly polarized
-5% this week
34%
support 1 or more democratic norm violations
+1% this week
3%
support partisan violence
+0% this week

Affective Polarization

Affective polarization is the difference between {outparty} ratings and {inparty} ratings

We define "very polarized" as any difference greater than 50 points

What we ask:

How would you rate your feeling towards {Democrats / Republicans}?

Affective Polarization
Across the U.S.

Democrats

Feelings towards their party

78%
0
100

Feelings towards Republicans

22%
0
100

Affective Polarization

56%
0
100
Republicans

Feelings towards their party

76%
0
100

Feelings towards Democrats

22%
0
100

Affective Polarization

54%
0
100
Affective Polarization
Over Time

Support for Norm Violations

Democratic norms are behaviors and values that are critical to a well functioning democracy.

In our democratic norms questionnaire, we present respondents with an action against the opposing party that violates a given democratic norm; we then ask whether they support or oppose that action.

Number of Norm Violations Supported
Across the U.S.

What we ask:

Do you agree or disagree: Your party’s elected officials should sometimes consider ignoring court decisions when the judges who issued those decisions were appointed by a president from the other party.

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
15%
55%
0
100
Republicans
13%
55%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

Do you agree or disagree: Your party should reduce the number of polling stations in areas that typically support the other party.

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
10%
51%
0
100
Republicans
10%
55%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

Do you agree or disagree: If your party's president can't get cooperation from the other party's members of congress to pass new laws, your party's president should circumvent Congress and issue executive orders on their own to accomplish their priorities.

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
42%
62%
0
100
Republicans
27%
62%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

Do you agree or disagree with the following: The government should be able to censor media sources that spend more time attacking your party than the other party.

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
19%
57%
0
100
Republicans
24%
56%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

Do you agree or disagree with the following: When your party's candidate questions the outcome of an election other members of your party should be more loyal to your party than to election rules and the constitution.

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
17%
56%
0
100
Republicans
22%
57%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

Support for Partisan Violence

Our partisan violence questionnaire presents 6 aggressive actions taken towards some member of the {outparty}, each with increasing severity.

We present each question one at a time, until a respondent chooses not to endorse it.

Percent Who Support

What we ask:

{name} was convicted of protesting without a permit. He was arrested by police after leading a protest against your party on the grounds of the county courthouse. He made no effort to acquire the necessary permit for the protest and refused to leave when asked by police. Do you support or oppose {name}’s actions?

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
31%
31%
0
100
0%
0
100
Republicans
28%
28%
0
100
0%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

{name} was convicted of vandalism. He was arrested by police after he vandalized several large signs expressing support for candidates of the other party. Do you support or oppose {name}’s actions?

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
8%
0
100
0%
0
100
Republicans
5%
0
100
0%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

{name} was convicted of assault. He was arrested by police for throwing rocks at peaceful protesters from the other party. Although no one was seriously injured, paramedics bandaged a man with a head wound. Do you support or oppose {name}’s actions?

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
4%
0
100
51%
51%
0
100
Republicans
3%
0
100
52%
52%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

{name} was convicted of arson. He was arrested by police as he attempted to run from a fire he started at the local from the other party's headquarters. Although he waited for the building to close for the night, several adjacent buildings were still occupied. Do you support or oppose {name}’s actions?

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
3%
0
100
0%
0
100
Republicans
2%
0
100
0%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

{name} was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.He was arrested by police after driving his car into a crowd of protesters from the other party. Although no one was killed, several individuals were seriously injured and one spent a month in the hospital. Do you support or oppose {name}’s actions?

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
2%
0
100
0%
0
100
Republicans
2%
0
100
0%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

What we ask:

{name} was convicted of murder. He was arrested by police after surveillance footage was found showing him stabbing a prominent member of the other party to death. {name} targeted the victim because he believed the victim had prevented him from voting in the last election as part of a conspiracy to stop voters from your party. Do you support or oppose {name}’s actions?

Percent Who Support
and perceptions of the other side

Democrats
2%
0
100
39%
39%
0
100
Republicans
1%
0
100
38%
38%
0
100
Support
Perceived Support
Percent Who Support
Over Time

Trust and Values

What we ask:

Do you think your wallet (or your valuables) would be returned to you if it were found by a stranger?

Percent Who Agree

Democrats
37%
0
100
Republicans
32%
0
100
Independents
25%
0
100
Percent Who Agree
Across the U.S.
Percent Who Agree
Over Time

What we ask:

If a member of Congress were offered a bribe to influence the awarding of a government contract, do you think that the member of Congress would accept or refuse the bribe?

Percent Who Agree

Democrats
36%
0
100
Republicans
46%
0
100
Independents
48%
0
100
Percent Who Agree
Across the U.S.
Percent Who Agree
Over Time

What we ask:

If you were to complain about the poor quality of a public service, how likely or unlikely is it that the problem would be easily resolved?

Percent Who Agree

Democrats
21%
0
100
Republicans
16%
0
100
Independents
11%
0
100
Percent Who Agree
Across the U.S.
Percent Who Agree
Over Time

What we ask:

How important or unimportant is it to vote in every election?

Percent Who Agree

Democrats
92%
0
100
Republicans
92%
0
100
Independents
65%
0
100
Percent Who Agree
Across the U.S.
Percent Who Agree
Over Time

What we ask:

How proud are you to be an American?

Percent Who Agree

Democrats
38%
0
100
Republicans
76%
0
100
Independents
36%
0
100
Percent Who Agree
Across the U.S.
Percent Who Agree
Over Time

What we ask:

Do you agree or disagree that you can expect fair treatment from government authorities?

Percent Who Agree

Democrats
41%
0
100
Republicans
27%
0
100
Independents
20%
0
100
Percent Who Agree
Across the U.S.
Percent Who Agree
Over Time
Polarization Research Lab

America's Political Pulse

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