Party Polarization and Trust in Science: What about Democrats?

Abstract

Research has documented the decline of trust in science among Republicans, ideological conservatives, and fundamentalist religious groups. However, less is known about the nature of party polarization in these trends: did polarization only increase because of changes among Republicans? In this study, the author tests a two-sided polarization thesis using data from the General Social Survey (1974–2018). The findings show that a significant share of the growth in party polarization is due to an increase of trust in science among Democrats. In fact, by the 2010s, Democrats became significantly more likely than either Republicans or independents to have high confidence in science. Moreover, the results also show that the aggregate party-level changes are driven largely by trends among conservative Republicans, moderate Democrats, and liberal Democrats. Together, these findings have implications for our understanding of the nature and potential causes of partisan polarization in beliefs about the cultural authority of science.