While partisanship has certainly risen in recent years, there remains a hope that even the most partisan of individuals would step back from the brink if their chosen party was undermining the principles of democracy. Research from Northwestern University suggests that might be somewhat naive.

“Interventions that reduce the extent to which partisans do not like each other do not seem to alter or reduce the extent to which they hold anti-democratic attitudes,” the researchers explain. “We need to think about ways to help people see the value of democracy unto itself regardless of party.”

Reducing polarization

The researchers examined various polarization interventions to explore whether they also affected anti-democratic attitudes. In total, they tested over 8,000 people identified as having strong partisan beliefs.

In each study, the volunteers were randomly assigned to either an intervention that aimed to reduce their affective polarization or to a control group. The interventions included things like thinking of a friend who supports the other side or correcting misperceptions about their supporters.

The results showed that all of the interventions did decrease the level of animosity towards the other side, while also suggesting that there was an increase in prosocial behavior towards members of the opposing group.

What was less promising, however, was the impact on anti-democratic attitudes. The researchers identified a number of such attitudes, including a willingness to support partisan violence, to prioritize partisan ends over democratic means, and to support candidates who are willing to sacrifice democratic principles to win.

Unfortunately, the interventions to reduce polarization didn’t seem to make any difference in terms of reducing these attitudes, but the researchers aren’t entirely sure why they failed. They plan to further explore matters and try and understand whether there are certain interventions, or certain intervention conditions, where they are effective.