Practicing tolerance as politics take center stage
By Bridget Gum-Egan
In the current political climate, it can be challenging to feel safe expressing ourselves and respecting others’ beliefs. But, believe it or not, people with all kinds of political views feel the same way. Polarization is one of the biggest problems in U.S. politics now.
Professor Libby Newman, chair of Rider’s department of government, politics and law, researches political theory, specifically democratic discourse and polarization.
“Scholars talk about two kinds of polarization: ideological polarization, which is people getting further and further apart in terms of what they believe or what their political positions are… and affective polarization, which is more of an identity-driven emotional distancing as people come to trust each other less and less, not based on opinions, but based on belonging to a group of some sort,” said Newman.
According to Newman, there has always been both kinds of polarization in our political environment, but now, it is more driven by identity and emotion rather than differences of opinion.
“Americans trust each other less, and they’re more likely to say now that somebody’s political party is a good indication of whether or not they’re a good person,” said Newman. “Once you start judging people like that, it just shuts down any conversations.”
If this is starting to describe you, don’t panic. Many people feel the same way. According to Pew Research Center, “61% of U.S. adults say having political conversations with people they disagree with is generally ‘stressful and frustrating.’… As has been the case since 2021, there is no partisan difference in the shares viewing political conversations with people they disagree with as stressful.”
These feelings remain consistent from all different walks of life. “Across most demographic and political groups, majorities say these conversations are more stressful and frustrating than interesting and informative,” reports Pew.
All of these statistics reflect the overall polarization occurring in the country, especially during election season.
Many people may also lack the desire to understand and relate to one another. However, that may be to your own detriment. Newman believes that tolerance and respect are essential.
“There’s a general need to understand other people and see where they’re coming from. I think we tend to have grave misunderstandings about each other,” said Newman. “We can’t solve collective problems if we’re not willing to work together.”
Elections and politics are unavoidable. However, tolerance and respect are not. The best strategy Newman recommends for cultivating a safe conversation is to take it offline.
“Online conversations tend to be toxic. You can hide your identity, you’re willing to say things in comments online that you would never say to someone’s face, there’s trolling and people say things they don’t necessarily mean,” said Newman.
Humanizing political perspectives and doing proper research are also helpful. Newman recommends not getting your news from TikTok or other social media sites, but instead to evaluate news sources with the website Ad Fontes Media. It ranks news sources based on their biases and the political beliefs they favor.
“Everyone wants to be heard and seen and not misrepresented,” said Newman. This election season, try to relate to your fellow Americans. We’re all human. We all have opinions. Let’s be understanding of one another and respect each other.
Bridget Gum-Egan is a senior English Major
