An Evaluation of Reforms That Aim to Address Political Polarization

Prior research has shown that the effects of political polarization can be far reaching, impacting everything from the functionality of government to the general political discourse in America. Previous research also shows that there has been a great deal of reforms proposed that aim to address the issue of political polarization. In my thesis research, I evaluated many of these reforms, by looking at both their political viability as well as how well each reform would address political polarization, in order to determine which reform is most worthwhile of pursuing. The research looked at reforms that targeted governmental procedures, reforms that aimed to alter political parties, reforms that focused on the American electorate, and reforms that targeted the electoral system in America. The study I conducted concluded that an electorate reform, specifically a reform that aims to provide nonpartisan electoral information to voters, is both extremely politically viable and also would have a significant impact on political polarization, thus making it most worthwhile of pursuing.