U.S. political polarization shows uptick

American politics has had a hatred problem for years. But the newest wrinkle is a little different — more people are not just angry at the other party, they’re souring on both parties at once. That’s the real takeaway from Pew Research Center’s new May 1 survey, which found that 26% of U.S. adults now hold unfavorable views of both the Republican and Democratic parties, up from 21% in 2020. (pewresearch.org) ### What actually changed? The headline number is simple: both-party dislike went up. Pew’s latest survey, conducted April 20-26 among 5,103 U.S. adults, says 26% now view both major parties unfavorably. In 2020, that figure was 21%. That is not a one-month spike story. It looks more like a longer drift toward broader disgust with the party system itself. (pewresearch.org) ### Are the parties individually unpopular too? Yes — and that’s what makes the 26% number land harder. Pew found 58% of adults have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party and 59% have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party. So this is not a case where one party is collapsing while the other stays broadly liked. Both brands are weak at the same time. (pewresearch.org) ### Is this the same thing as polarization? Not exactly. Classic affective polarization means Democrats and Republicans increasingly dislike each other. That is still very real. Pew’s numbers show 92% of Democrats view the GOP unfavorably, while 93% of (pewresearch.org)stem-level disaffection. (pewresearch.org) ### So who is driving the both-parties negativity? A lot of it comes from people who lean toward a party without fully identifying with it. Pew has been tracking this for years, and the pattern keeps showing up: strong partisans still mostly like their (pewresearch.org)dents view their own side favorably. That is lukewarm, not loyal. (pewresearch.org) ### Why does that matter politically? Because elections are usually framed as a battle for persuasion between two camps. But if a growing slice of voters dislikes both camps, turnout, candidate quality, and protest voting start to matter more. These vot(pewresearch.org)n when the red-blue divide stays intense. (pewresearch.org) ### Is this just about Trump? Not really, though the survey was released alongside fresh numbers showing President Donald Trump losing ground on approval and personal traits. His approval in the same poll stood at 34%, the lowest of his second term. That probably adds to the sour national mood, but the both-parties trend predates this moment and stretches back several years. (pewresearch.org) ### Why are people reading this as an uptick in polarization? Because it shows hostility spreading, not fading. The country is still deeply polarized in the usual partisan way. But now a bigger share of Americans also seems exhausted with the two-party setup itself. Basically, the animus did not cool off — it got broader. (pewresearch.org) ### Bottom line The new number is not that Americans suddenly became less polarized. It’s that polarization now sits alongside a stronger both-parties backlash. That is a tougher kind of political mood to fix — because it means more voters are not choosing a tribe so much as choosing the option they dislike slightly less. (pewresearch.org)