Ending Polarization: The Good News About the Culture Wars

Abstract

The cultural politics of the 2004 presidential election launched many Americans into a long-term funk. Some blue-staters now perceive themselves destined for defeat in a battle to define America’s moral orthodoxy. But the Bush campaign’s use of gay marriage and other symbolic issues to mobilize its base also demoralized a great many others — red, blue, and purple — who see democracy as the form of government best suited to enabling people of diverse cultural persuasions to unite in pursuit of their common interests.

Our goal is to restore their morale. We reject the proposition that any significant fraction of the U.S. electorate is bent on imposing its partisan moral vision on the remainder. On the contrary, the vast majority of American citizens want mundane things out of politics — economic comfort and physical security.

The rub is that it is very difficult for citizens to figure out which policies, supported by which candidates, will deliver those basic goods. Lacking the time and experience to become public-policy experts, they must turn to others for guidance. And often, the people they choose to trust are those who share (or appear to share) their broad cultural outlook. Politicians and other policy advocates recognize this, and the way they signal their trustworthiness is by broadcasting their positions on symbolic issues.

Culture matters, then, not because Americans are moral zealots intent on ramming their values down one another’s throats. It matters because citizens use cultural affinity as a heuristic, or mental shortcut, for figuring out which politicians and policies are most likely to put food on their tables.

Keywords: polarization, ending polarization, culture wars, cultural affinity, deliberative outcomes