Democracy and the Epistemic Problems of Political Polarization

Bibliographic Data

ID3215332
AuthorsJudith Benson (0000-0002-2243-4227, University of Manchester, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume118
Issue4
Pages1719-1732
Publication date2024-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Political Science Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003055423001089
OpenAlexW4388297353
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited61

Political polarization is one of the most discussed challenges facing contemporary democracies and is often associated with a broader epistemic crisis. While inspiring a large literature in political science, polarization's epistemic problems also have significance for normative democratic theory, and this study develops a new approach aimed at understanding them. In contrast to prominent accounts from political psychology-group polarization theory and cultural cognition theory-which argue that polarization leads individuals to form unreliable political beliefs, this study focuses on system-level diversity. It argues that polarization's epistemic harms are best located in its tendency to reduce the diversity of perspectives utilized in a democratic system and in how this weakens the system's ability to identify and address problems of public concern. Understanding such harms is also argued to require a greater consideration of the political dynamics of polarization and issues of elite discourse, alongside political psychology

Democracy · Economics · Elite · Epistemology · Normative · Polarization (electrochemistry · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social science · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Philosophy · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Media and Politics

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