Local Governments Provide Proof that Polarization Isn't Inevitable

When it comes to national politics, Americans are fiercely divided across a range of issues, including gun control, election security and vaccines. It is not new for Republicans and Democrats to be at odds over issues, but things have reached a point where even the idea of compromising appears to be anathema, making it more difficult to solve thorny problems.

But things are much less heated at the local level. A survey of more than 1,400 local officials by the Carnegie Corporation and CivicPulse found that local governments are "largely insulated from the harshest effects of polarization." Communities with fewer than 50,000 residents proved especially resilient to partisan dysfunction.

Why this difference? A a political scientist, I believe lessons from the local level not only open a window onto how polarization works but also the dynamics and tools that can help reduce it.

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