16 February 2026
What is Polarisation? A Policy Guide
Executive Summary
This report sets out a six-fold typology to help identify what polarisation is, and, importantly, to predict where we see polarisation arising.
The six-fold typology of polarisation is: (1) refusal of dialogue; (2) framing the other as the enemy; (3) no compromise; (4) monolithic identity; (5) a discourse of danger; and (6) an absolutist ideology. Each is explicated as a distinct aspect of polarisation.
Following an examination of the policy implications, the report ends with some suggestions for tackling polarisation, including: use of discourse analysis to spot the potential for polarisation emerging; the need to balance dialogue (early stages) with more prescriptive enforcement against polarised language and groups employing it, but with an awareness that this may be counter-productive yet also aware of the philosopher Karl Popper’s “paradox of toleration”; understanding that not all polarised language/positions are inherently socially harmful; and, the need for education to spot and avoid polarising discourse.
Executive Summary
This report sets out a six-fold typology to help identify what polarisation is, and, importantly, to predict where we see polarisation arising.
The six-fold typology of polarisation is: (1) refusal of dialogue; (2) framing the other as the enemy; (3) no compromise; (4) monolithic identity; (5) a discourse of danger; and (6) an absolutist ideology. Each is explicated as a distinct aspect of polarisation.
Following an examination of the policy implications, the report ends with some suggestions for tackling polarisation, including: use of discourse analysis to spot the potential for polarisation emerging; the need to balance dialogue (early stages) with more prescriptive enforcement against polarised language and groups employing it, but with an awareness that this may be counter-productive yet also aware of the philosopher Karl Popper’s “paradox of toleration”; understanding that not all polarised language/positions are inherently socially harmful; and, the need for education to spot and avoid polarising discourse.
