Visualized: Polarization Across 28 Countries
How do you measure something that’s made headlines for half a decade but is still difficult to quantify? We’re talking about polarization.
Even within the social sciences, polarization covers everything from racial segregation, to labor skill levels, to class divide, to political ideology.
How Do You Quantify Polarization?
Edelman’s data on which countries are the most polarized comes from survey results asking respondents two very simple questions:
- How divided is their country?
- How entrenched is the divide?
The questions help bring to light the social issues a particular country is facing and the lack of consensus on those issues.
Plotted against each other, a chart emerges. A country in the top–right corner of the chart is “severely polarized.” Countries located closer to the lower–left are considered less polarized.
In the report, Edelman identifies four metrics to watch for and measure which help quantify polarization.
| Economic Anxieties | Will my family be better off in five years? |
| Institutional Imbalance | Government is viewed as unethical and incompetent. |
| Class Divide | People with higher incomes have a higher trust in institutions. |
| Battle for Truth | Echo chambers, and a low trust in media. |
Following Edelman’s metrics, countries with economic uncertainty and inequality as well as institutional distrust are more likely to be polarized. Below, we look at key highlights from the chart.
Severely Polarized Countries
Despite being one of the largest economies in Latin America, Argentina is the most polarized country surveyed by a large margin. Foreign loan (Read more...)
