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Polarization & Partisanship

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The following activities and people highlight efforts at Stanford to understand political parties and partisanship, and address hyper- and affective polarization.

Upcoming Events

Research

  • The Conflict and Polarization initiative fosters an interdisciplinary community of scholars who are interested in helping to solve the problems of violent conflict and political polarization.
  • The Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University conducts research and experiments focused on enhancing democratic practices and citizen engagement.

Engagement Opportunities

  • ePluribus is an SLS initiative addressing polarization through student-faculty reading groups, dialogue skill-building, and guest speakers. It fosters habits and norms for open, productive discussion in legal and professional settings.
  • The Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Partnership equips students to engage across political divides, fostering civil discourse, facilitation skills, and democratic values like expression, equality, and agency across U.S. campuses.
  • The Stanford Political Union holds faculty-student debates and is a meeting body for students to debate the policy issues of the day with reasoned dialogue and nuance.

Courses

Meet the Stanford Community Working on Polarization & Partisanship

  • Professor of Political Science, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor, by courtesy, of Political Economics at the Graduate School of Business
  • Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Emerita
  • John H. Scully Professor of International Business Studies and Professor, by courtesy, of Psychology
  • Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
  • Sir Robert Ho Tung Professor of Chinese Studies, Professor of Communication, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science and of Sociology
  • Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. Professor of Public Policy
  • Denise O'Leary & Kent Thiry Professor of the Humanities and Sciences and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science