In this episode, we’re joined by Lilliana Mason, Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University’s SNF Agora Institute, and author of Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity. Bringing together her unique blended expertise in political science and social psychology, Lilliana (Lily) digs into the details behind partisan animosity and the disturbing increase in extreme partisanship, especially changing attitudes toward the use of violence in politics. Importantly, Lily’s work is helping us understand how the study of intergroup conflict applies in politics. Her work shows that Americans have becoming increasingly “socially sorted,” resulting in lives where we live, work, and engage almost exclusively with people who share our identities—and the ways this sorting leads to distrust and otherizing, dramatically shifting attitudes and beliefs about others outside of one’s own political identity. Sorting—and what it does to us—limits our ability to compromise and build common ground. Through her research, she is equipping all of us with the knowledge imperative to ensuring our political parties can continue to be collaborators in our democracy.
Resources:
- Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity by Lilliana Mason – https://amzn.to/3KpG9Ya
- Radical American Partisanship: Mapping Violent Hostility, Its Causes, and the Consequences for Democracy by Nathan P. Kalmoe and Lilliana Mason – https://amzn.to/456IIpW