Research Guides: POL 210-D: Ideology and Polarization (Fall 2023): Home

Welcome

This research guide is designed for students doing research polarization in US politics. If you run into any obstacles, don't hesitate to contact me at tedforrl@wfu.edu. Some general searching tips are below! ~ Rosalind Tedford

PRO TIPS:

When searching for multiple-word phrases, putting them in quotation marks really helps you get better results! (i.e. "Gun control" "United States")
When you use an * at the end of a root word, you get all possible endings to that word - i.e. econom* gives you results with economy, economic, and economics.

Resources for Depolarization Diagnoses Paper

Finding a quote:

You can always just Google 'quotes about polarization' or 'Simpsons quotes' or whatever. But we do have some dictionaries of political quotations that might be useful.

ZSR Dictionaries of Political Quotations

Finding academic sources:

Search the ZSR Online Catalog for things such as:

Polarization Congress
Partisanship "Republican Party" or partisanship "United States"
Politicization "Supreme Court"
Polarization "Public Opinion" "United States" (can add an issue here like "gun control" or abortion)
Polarization society "United States"
Search "solutions polarization" or "reducing polarization" to find sources on ways to address it
Apathy "United States" (can add a qualifier here - voting, politics, abortion, etc.)

Finding public opinion and other data on polarization:

Roper Center Public Opinion Archives This link opens in a new window
One of the world's leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion. Covers opinions on social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, and more. Most of the data are from the United States, but over 50 nations are represented. Coverage: 1935-present

Pew Research: Politics and Policy
Research on US Politics and policy and note the whole subsection on political polarization.
Brookings Institution: Political Polarization
National Journal
Web site that track US political races and issues. Search 'polarization' or 'partisanship' for a wide variety of resources.

Finding Cultural Examples

Google 'polarization United States'
Use social media to find examples (hashtags might help)
Use the sources ZSR provides as institutional subscriptions

Finding Solutions

Use this list of organizations combatting polarization to see what they have found.
Search the ZSR library catalog for "solutions polarization" or "reducing polarization" to find sources on ways to address it

Rosalind Tedford

She/Her

Email Me

Contact:

ZSR Library
Room 457A

Subjects: African American Studies, American History, English Literature, Law, Political Science, Social Sciences - General

POL 210-D: Ideology and Polarization (Fall 2023): Home