Berkeley political scientists chart a promising course to ease toxic polarization

New research co-authored at UC Berkeley details the psychological processes that demagogues exploit to erode support for democracy - and shows a way to bridge the dangerous divide. The year was 2020, just a few weeks before the presidential election, when Republican gubernatorial candidate Spencer Cox and Democratic opponent Chris Peterson teamed up to make an unconventional campaign ad. Appearing together on the same screen, they pledged to campaign in a civil, respectful way, and to honor November's outcome. In today's polarized climate, such amiable politics seem not just improbable, but almost startling - and that may be why the ad went viral. But according to new research co-authored at UC Berkeley, such simple bipartisan commitments to the old-fashioned ideals of American democracy may offer a way to ease toxic polarization and increase positive feelings among voters on all sides. The innovative , released today (Monday, May 22) in the journal Nature Human Behaviour , found that both Republicans and Democrats expressed strong support for hallmark democratic practices. But support erodes when voters on one side believe their opponents are hostile to those values - and that dynamic can become dangerous when extremist political leaders continually manipulate their followers to believe that opponents are anti-democratic.