During Donald Trump’s presidency, the American electorate became more divided and partisan, with research suggesting that the ongoing division is less about policy and more about labels like “conservative” and “liberal.”
Essentially, voters increasingly see themselves in one of two camps – a “red team” and “blue team,” each with a faction of hard-core members.
The dangerous extent of this devotion was on display when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, convinced that the election had been stolen despite no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud.
How did American politics get to this point? Continue reading.
Tumbling toward impeachment, Richard Nixon recognized the reality of collapsing political support and became the only American president to quit the office. A generation later, when the House voted to impeach Bill Clinton, the president oscillated between apologies for his Oval Office behavior and fervent pleas for Americans to turn away from “the politics of personal destruction.”