Polarization, Partisan Sorting, and the Politics of Education

Drawing on annual, nationally representative survey data from 2007–2022, I demonstrate that partisan gaps—the average differences in public opinion between Democrats and Republicans—have widened on many education issues. This pattern consistently exceeds what would be expected due to the changing demographic compositions of the parties alone. Widening partisan gaps are primarily attributable to sorting (alignment of one's party affiliation and one's issue positions) rather than polarization (increasing support for more extreme positions relative to more moderate positions). However, polarization is also increasing on some of the most divisive issues. Among those who are sorting, individuals are overwhelmingly switching their issue positions to align with their party affiliations rather than switching their party affiliations to align with their issue positions.