Addressing the Divide

For the last four months of 2026, our civics topic will be “Addressing the Divide”.  We’ll investigate manifestations of divisiveness, including book bans, gerrymandering, and media influence.  We’ll identify the forces that got us here by discussing the history of political polarization, the impact of money on elections, fear and misconceptions of political ideologies, and the role of both media and AI. Finally, we’ll talk about ways to bridge the divide through critical thinking, civic participation, active and empathetic listening, civil discourse, and consideration of shared experiences.

While things seem very polarized, there are common ground and some significant similarities in what a majority of people in America desire, such as:

• Fair, transparent, and effective election processes that yield trustworthy results
• Media outlets that report news honestly
• Courts that hold all people accountable regardless of money, power, or influence
• Laws that apply to everyone equally regardless of demographic, race, wealth, or power
• Responsible and common-sense approaches to energy, sustainability, and the environment [1, 2, 3, 4]

Civil discourse, sharing ideas, understanding, learning, and growing all demand that we appreciate and respect our differences (see Harvard University Pluralism Project). We hope this content, in conjunction with programs being offered at the library, provides new perspectives and approaches for thinking about and discussing today’s political environment.

Sources:

[1] – The Brookings Institution: “The civic consensus beneath America’s political divide”

[2] – Americans Agree: “Lessons from a Year of Exploring Common Ground”

[3] – Gallup: “Americans Show Consensus on Many Democracy-Related Matters”

[4] – Harvard Kennedy School: Carr-Ryan Center For Human Rights: “National Survey Finds Bipartisan Support for Expansive View of Rights”

In this section, you will find materials, programs, terms, and resources for further exploration of our topic “Addressing the Divide”.

This section defines terms and concepts that can contribute to divisiveness and provides context to help better understand how division can develop.

Each resource listed below provides slightly different perspectives on polarization and the political divide and can be downloaded, printed, translated, spoken aloud with built-in TTS accessibility features, and cited in several popular bibliographic styles.

Britannica Academic Edition
Use Britannica to search and find authoritative definitions and extended resources on political or divisive topics like “partisanship”, “political party”, or “voter suppression”. Each article links to related topics to get context. When available, the article will also link to images and videos to further develop the topic.

CultureGrams
CultureGrams specializes in providing culturally significant information about each country and region in the world. The results often incorporate videos, images, and sound recordings that create a thorough overview of the country. Use this database to explore the United States of America for a fascinating view of the government, economy, population, and more, and this resource is terrific for comparing features of countries. (Available to LPL patrons only.)

Gale Communications and Mass Media
This database provides access to carefully curated resources, and a search of “political polarization” (for example) yields hundreds of magazines and academic journal articles, as well as news resources, and the results can be easily and effectively sorted to best satisfy your search.

Gale Diversity Studies
This database provides over a hundred results for a search of “political polarization”, plus hundreds of academic journal articles, and many news articles that directly related to American and global diversity studies. The results can be narrowed using Gale’s helpful filters.

Gale U.S. History
Searching “political polarization” in Gale’s U.S. History database surfaces magazine articles, academic journals, books, and news articles that explore the divide in American History. The results can be sorted quickly using Gale’s interface.

Opposing Viewpoints In Context
Gale’s Opposing Viewpoints provides research guides to explore difficult topics, balancing different sides with supporting documents. A search of “political polarization” in this database returns infographics, images, academic journals, hundreds of magazine articles, over a thousand news articles, and more results. This resource is great for starting and completing research. The information provided is thoughtfully categorized and can be filtered and sorted using Gale’s helpful tools.

Thomas Jefferson wrote that “wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government” [Library of Congress: Thomas Jefferson to Richard Price, Paris Jan. 8. 1789], and a healthy democracy is reliant upon an informed citizenship. Explore the links listed below to see statistical representation on a variety of issues related to Democracy in the United States.

This section provides thorough, authoritative online tools to help better understand information and media literacy, stay current on trends about technology, and combat misinformation.

• Brennan Center for Justice: Eight Solutions to Protect Voting Rights and Improve Representation
  This recent article is a powerful field-guide to creating free and fair elections in the United States. The suggestions are bipartisan in nature, propose transparency as a fundamental piece of the election process, and attempt to ensure citizens’ voices are heard equally, all of which strengthen the democratic process and fight illiberalism.

In this section, we provide engaging programs, materials, and online content for youth and families to consider and “Address the Divide” together. Civic engagement at a young age benefits families and youth by creating “higher life satisfaction, civic participation, and educational attainment, and is related to lower rates of arrest in emerging adulthood” [1] while creating positive habits that can last a lifetime and increasing mental well-being [2], but it also benefits the communities by increasing social connections, establishing supportive networks, and empowering young people, who are the ultimate stakeholders of legislative and policy decisions made today [3].

Sources:

[1] – Journal of Youth and Adolescence: “Adolescent Civic Engagement and Adult Outcomes: An Examination among Urban Racial Minorities”

[2] – Journal of Youth and Adolescence: “Interventions to Promote Civic Engagement Among Youth and Its Outcomes on Mental Health: A Scoping Review”

[3] – Tufts University: Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement: “Why Is Youth Civic Engagement Important?”