US Elections: Declining Quality of Debate
By: Lavinia Klarhoefer
Oct 31, 2024
The JD Vance and Tim Walz vice presidential debate in October was unrepresentative of political debate in the US with its in-depth discussion of policy alternatives and unusually civil tone. This week’s graph illustrates the declining quality of public policy debate in the United States in the last decade.
The quality of policy debates (measured in the indicators Reasoned justification and Respect counterarguments) deteriorated in connection with the 2016 election year and during the Trump administration, and has not fully recovered since.
A recent study finds that a vast majority of Americans perceives the political debate to have become less fact-based and more disrespectful.
Moreover, citizen’s participation in independent public debate on policy changes (measured by the Engaged society indicator) decreased during 2016-2020.
Research on political engagement during the Trump administration indicates that citizens experienced increased stress and fatigue given the political climate, which may have contributed to a retreat from public policy debates.
Research shows that political polarization harms democracy once it reaches “toxic” levels. Such polarization and autocratization are mutually reinforcing. Given the increasing ideological and emotional polarization among American politicians and voters, restoring a respectful, argument-based culture of policy debate remains a challenge for a divided nation.
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Find out more about the state of US Democracy by making your own graph.
Find out more about what the indicators used in this GoW measure in the V-Dem Codebook.
