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How identity fuels political divides

October 5, 2026 · 42 min

Show notes

From Brexit to the 2020 election, the United States and the United Kingdom seem more divided than ever as media, political polarization, and other factors combine to form what Mitchell Smith describes as "the Great Perceptual Divide."

Smith joined Democracy Works to explore what this divide is, how it's impacting politics on both sides of the Atlantic, and other countries might offer a model for moving beyond it.

He is Director of the School of International Affairs at Penn State and Professor of International Affairs. His book, The Great Perceptual Divide: Identity and Democracy in the U.S. and Britain, is available now from Bloomsbury Academic. 


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