La polarizzazione ideologica negli Stati Uniti, fra americanismo e guerre culturali

Abstract

The purpose of this contribution is to focus on the origins and developments of the American debate on the phenomenon of political and ideological polarization, highlighting the role that intellectual, political and economic elites have played in its emergence and definition, as well as its connection to the ideological matrix of nationalism, whether progressive or conservative. It is therefore intended to reiterate the centrality of ideology in determining American political conflict. To this end, Freeden’s definition of nationalism as thin ideology is considered, which helps us explain the different matrices of the two Americanisms. At the same time, the social basis of polarization is highlighted, through which we interpret the phenomenon of ‘mass polarization’ that characterizes the American political system. The conclusions ask how much polarization is sustainable for a democratic country, and whether we are crossing that threshold of hyper-partisanship that the American political system has experienced before.