Madison’s 5 Lessons for Overcoming Polarization

Madison’s 5 Lessons for Overcoming Polarization
A portrait of the 4th U.S. President James Madison (1809–1817). Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers via Getty Images
Lynn Uzzell
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Commentary
There has never been a time when our nation wasn’t divided by partisanship. Yet some eras are more divisive than others, and few of us would deny that we’re living through an especially polarized time. For those who don’t trust their instincts on this question, numerous surveys bear out a collective hunch: polarization really has gotten worse in recent decades.
Lynn Uzzell
Lynn Uzzell
Author
Lynn Uzzell teaches American politics and rhetoric at the University of Virginia and Washington and Lee University. For four years she was also the scholar in residence at the Center for the Constitution at James Madison’s Montpelier. She specializes in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the political thought of James Madison.
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