While national headlines warn of worsening political polarization, University of Georgia students and faculty say their classrooms feel thoughtful, not broken.
Political science professor Audrey Haynes said her classroom environment is calm and controlled.
“Rarely are we bringing people who are flamethrowers into class,” Haynes said. “My students are very good about navigating that [political] space.”
Political polarization has increased in the U.S along party lines, within political parties and on many controversial issues. Americans see the country as more divided than at any time since the Civil War, according to a 2025 Syracuse University Today article.
In 2022, 72% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats viewed the opposing party as more immoral than other Americans, according to Pew Research Center. More recently, a Gallup poll conducted in 2024 found that 80% of adults in the U.S. think that Americans are “greatly divided on the most important values” in the country, including healthcare, immigration and abortion.
Haynes said that the country has seen an increase in polarization and extreme attitudes partially because of new technology and social media.
Dr. Audrey Haynes, an associate professor of political science in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia, poses for a portrait in her office at Baldwin Hall on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019, in Athens, Georgia. (Photo/Gabriella Audi)
“It’s so central to our lives because we have a phone that is giving us a notification every two seconds,” Haynes said. “But you also have now politicians who spend more time marketing themselves [online] … [than] governing.”
Furthermore, Athens is widely regarded as a progressive and politically active community. In recent weeks, there have been protests on UGA’s campus and in downtown Athens in response to the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the crisis in Venezuela and unrest in Iran.
The state of Georgia faces unique challenges with polarization due to its racial and economic demographic makeup as well as results of recent elections. After Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden won the state’s electoral votes in 2020 — the first Democrat to do so since 1992 — the state saw significant division. A study out of UGA found that “post-election fallout was most acute and consequential in Georgia” compared to other states in the U.S.
However, UGA seems to have avoided the worst of this issue, according to Haynes.
“I wouldn’t say our students, on either side, are extreme,” Haynes said. “I think because they are in college and a bit more educated, they are actually very thoughtful individuals.”
Jordan Silas, a junior journalism major minoring in political science, describes a slightly different environment outside of the classroom.
Silas, a transfer student, compared her time at UGA to her time at Georgia State University, noting that UGA has a “mixture of all” political affiliations and a “good school of thought,” but tends to be more polarized.
However, Silas said that the polarization does not affect her schooling.
“My professors do a good job of trying to neutralize conversation,” Silas said. “If we do feel a little bit of tenseness in the room, we talk about it [and] we move forward.”
Both political parties are represented on campus through the Young Democrats of UGA and the College Republicans at UGA, and other organizations such as the Young Democratic Socialists of America and Young Americans For Freedom.
Haynes thinks that working together is essential now more than ever for college students interested in politics.
“The answers to problems are rarely on one extreme or the other,” Haynes said. “The more people you have at the table, usually the more you’re going to do a better job figuring out the right way to solve that problem.”