- Polarization has become the master concept for diagnosing contemporary democratic crises. The notion denotes three features: symmetry between parties, politics as an opinion space where positions diverge, and mutual repulsion between opposing camps. Yet none of these capture current realities. Across democracies, the central dynamic is not two poles drifting apart but the transformation of the political right into authoritarianism, norm breaking, and openness to political violence. Social democratic and center-right parties tend to respond in the opposite way from what “polarization” implies: by accommodating rightward. Attempts to salvage the polarization frame with modifiers (“asymmetric,” “affective,” “sectarian,” “pernicious”) concede these realities but risk hollowing out the concept’s definitional core. These limitations reveal a deeper misdiagnosis: when one party turns antidemocratic and illiberal, incivility and conflict are inevitable—but they are symptoms, not the root problem. Misdiagnosing them as the central issue leads to viewing civility and compromise as remedies, thereby risking the legitimation of authoritarian actors. This article proposes an alternative lens: the radicalization of the political right. Developed in the study of extremism, the radicalization framework better captures asymmetric change, identity-driven politics, and the mainstreaming of illiberalism. It foregrounds identity fusion, threat narratives, elite entrepreneurship, and escalation. Concepts are never politically innocent and persisting with “polarization” risks both misdiagnosing and normalizing authoritarian threats.
Tasks
- Book
- Complete book information form (We have not received the author bio and photo which will accompany the book)
- Provide alt text descriptions for all figures in their book – started
- In chapter 14 “??” appears for a Figure citation – can you let us know what figures this refers to?
- Start reworking Interactions article – email is in “articles and Speaking” folder.
- Ping Shimei and Jimmy on Tolulope O. Abiola email
- Library returns and ordering
- Bills
SBIRs
- 9:00 Standup
- 12:30 Tech summit something
- 3:00 – 5:00 start on WG browser plugin – Started! Discovered PySide6





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