Understanding the origins of political division in America and its causes

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Political division is not a new concept – but like everything else in America, this too has evolved since 1776.

Sebastian Graham, PhD is an assistant teaching professor in Purdue's Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts Program and the assistant director of Purdue’s Cornerstone Institute for Civic Thought. He says factions were a chief concern for the founding generation.

Factions are defined as a party or group that is often contentious or self-seeking. One History.com article says Alexander Hamilton once called political parties 'the most fatal disease' of popular government.

It goes on to say that the framers of America's Constitution hoped to avoid the division seen in England. They saw factions as a reminder of what they considered to be a corrupt monarchical system, leaning instead into true democratic government.

“The writers of the Federalist Papers are very clear that everywhere, democracies have always suffered from factions. The many versus the few is the way it appears in antiquity, and they were deeply concerned about this because they knew that factions kill democracies,” said Graham.

Political parties entered the scene soon after the nation’s founding.

“These political parties have been sort of ingrained into our society, but they weren't necessarily there at the get-go, and all of our founding generation was really sort of thinking, how can we try to avoid these political parties from destroying what we've just created?” said Graham.

Kathryn Cramer Brownell, PhD, is a professor of History and the Director of the Center for American Political History, Media, and Technology at Purdue University.

Professor Brownell explains that when it comes to polarization and division, you have to understand the root.

“I think one of the most important things is to think about what's undergirding these moments where you do have an intense division among parties, among sections of the country,” said Brownell.

She points to examples in American history where there was clear political polarization and the underlying causes. From the Civil War, spurred by the debate over slavery, to more recently– the 1950s and 60s–with racial discrimination and the civil rights movement that sought to fix it. She also recalls divisions over the Vietnam War and the push for women’s rights.

“The country is still grappling with these longer legacies again about rights and citizenship and equality,” said Brownell.

Dr. Graham says polarization has been increasing roughly since the 1960s in America.

A recent study from the University of Cambridge backs that up and shows divisions have risen steadily since 2008.

Brownell says the information landscape and how we consume it is also fueling polarization.

“It's very much filtered through algorithms and a political ecosystem that tends to spur the very emotional responses that George Washington once warned about that is actually baked into how the information ecosystem functions today. To encourage people to get angry, to not think rationally, and to think based off of their emotions, and that tends to ramp up some of the political divisions. This is not natural. It's very intentional in terms of how it's manufactured,” said Brownell.

So how do we bridge these gaps? Brownell and Graham say talking to each other and understanding what’s fueling these divides is a good start.

That's another piece of advice backed by research. A recent study led by the ‘Polarization Research Lab’ found most interventions to stop division were ineffective. They say educating young people on civil discourse, plus a change in behavior from political elites is what works.

“Well, I think so much of what we do here in our classrooms is that we encourage people to understand it. If you can understand what is really fueling some of these divides, then you can dissect it and at least have more productive conversations around these issues, or these topics, or these tensions that can seem to put people off completely. But in fact, there's a lot of common ground, and there's a lot of room for conversation, a lot of room for disagreements,” said Brownell.

Dr. Graham says this is something Purdue’s Cornerstone program is dedicated to — creating informed citizens, recognizing the dignity of others and exploring complicated political questions.