To understand American politics, you need to move beyond left and right

There's a more sophisticated way to understand how Americans divide themselves politically. Torsten Asmus/ iStock / Getty Images Plus

Are Americans really as politically polarized as they seem – and everybody says?

It’s definitely true that Democrats and Republicans increasingly hate and fear one another. But this animosity seems to have more to do with tribal loyalty than liberal-versus-conservative disagreements about policy. Our research into what Americans actually want in terms of policy shows that many have strong political views that can’t really be characterized in terms of “right” or “left.”