Twenty-first century American politics has been tumultuous. Common explanations for America’s societal and political divide and seeming inability to act collectively include changes in media technology, elite polarization, social and ideological sorting, nationalization of institutions, and unprecedented tribal polarization. This project instead argues that the most concerning and consequential development has been a polarization around trust in scientific institutions. This has come about due to partisan realignment and resulted in two parties—who are charged with collaborating to produce collective goods—operating from entirely distinct epistemologies. 

Jamie Druckman is the Martin Brewer Anderson Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. He is also an Honorary Professor of Political Science at Aarhus University in Denmark. His research focuses on political preference formation and communication. His work examines how citizens make political, economic, and social decisions in various contexts (e.g., settings with multiple competing messages, online information, deliberation). He also researches the relationship between citizens' preferences and public policy and the polarization of American society. His recent book with UMass professor Elizabeth Sharrow, Equality Unfulfilled: How Title IX’s Policy Design Undermines Change to College Sports (Cambridge University Press), won the 2024 Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book on US national policy from the American Political Science Association. 

This event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Social Science Research.