Polarization in America
This series—commissioned by the philanthropic organization the Andrew Carnegie Foundation—benchmarks the impact that polarization is having on local communities over time, identifies local solutions to the challenges of polarization, and investigates scalability of these solutions to other communities.
RESEARCH REPORTS
Based on a June 2026 national survey of local government leaders, this report benchmarks how perceptions of polarization have evolved since the last survey, introduces new issue-level benchmarks on how polarizing eight topics are nationally and locally, and examines what officials are most proud of in their own boards and communities despite the national political climate.
Based on a September 2025 national survey and interviews of local government leaders, this report benchmarks how perceptions of polarization have evolved since the last survey and homes in on scalable solutions, with an assessment of how to best leverage partnerships with local public institutions and further investigation into digital resident engagement and youth civics programming beyond the traditional classroom setting.
Based on a January 2025 national survey and interviews of local government leaders—with the new inclusion of school board officials—this report benchmarks how perceptions of polarization in local communities evolved during the change from the Biden to Trump administrations and explores solution areas such as community service, resident engagement, and K-12 civics education.
Based on an August 2024 national survey of local government leaders and follow-up interviews, this report benchmarked how local leaders perceived the effects of polarization in the leadup to the presidential election and explores the characteristics of local communities and local politics that can help build resilience to polarization.
Media inquiries can be sent to Nathan Lee, Founder and Managing Director, at nathanlee@civicpulse.org. Requests for the data associated with these reports can be completed through civicpulse.org/data-request. Any other questions can be directed to info@civicpulse.org.