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How to tackle political polarization — the researchers trying to bridge divides

Political divisions are intensifying, threatening democracies around the world. What strategies bring people closer together again?
  1. Saima May Sidik

    1. Saima May Sidik is a freelance science journalist based in Somerville, Massachusetts.

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On 20 October 2020, in the middle of a bitterly contested US election season, there was an unexpected détente in Utah. Two opposing candidates for governor, Spencer Cox (a Republican) and Chris Peterson (a Democrat), shunned the verbal attacks that dominate most political campaigns. Instead, they released a joint political advertisement in which they made a commitment to remain civil, accept the outcome of the election and eschew the divisive hatred that infests politics today.

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Nature 615, 26-28 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00573-5

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