It’s often said that the nation is more divided now than at any point since perhaps the Civil War. But just how extreme is our partisanship? What causes such deep political rifts? And what prompts ideological disagreement to erupt into violence? In the wake of the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the attempt to undermine the results of the 2020 election, these questions have become all the more urgent. Join the Political Science Department, Psychology Department, and the Tisch College of Civic Life for a conversation with Prof. Lilliana Mason of the University of Maryland, whose forthcoming book, Radical American Partisanship: Mapping Violent Hostility, Its Causes, & What It Means for Democracy, explores these vital issues. In it, she and Prof. Nathan P. Kalmoe of Louisiana State University draw on historical analysis, the results of over a dozen national surveys, and the psychology of identities, group conflicts, and aggression to explain the causes and implications of the United States’ radical partisanship and what it means for our democracy.
This event was sponsored by the Tufts Political Science Department, the Tufts Psychology Department, and the Tisch College of Civic Life.
