A compelling exploration of concrete strategies to reduce partisan animosity by building on what Democrats and Republicans have in common.  
 
One of the defining features of twenty-first-century American politics is the rise of affective polarization: Americans increasingly not only disagree with those from the other party but distrust and dislike them as well. This has toxic downstream consequences for both politics and social relationships. Is there any solution?  
 
Our Common Bonds shows that—although there is no silver bullet that will eradicate partisan animosity—there are concrete interventions that can reduce it. Matthew Levendusky argues that partisan animosity stems in part from partisans’ misperceptions of one another. Democrats and Republicans think they have nothing in common, but this is not true. Drawing on survey and experimental evidence, the book shows that it is possible to help partisans reframe the lens through which they evaluate the out-party by priming commonalities—specifically, shared identities outside of politics, cross-party friendships, and common issue positions and values identified through civil cross-party dialogue.  Doing so lessons partisan animosity, and it can even reduce ideological polarization. The book discusses what these findings mean for real-world efforts to bridge the partisan divide.   

"This book will stimulate great classroom discussions. Highly recommended." - Choice

"Levendusky focuses on partisan divisions, but his methods and data are different from those of [other] authors. Rather than focusing on ideology or issue attitudes, his concern is affective polarization, or the growing hostility and mistrust Americans feel for the other party and its supporters—a trend that he, like many observers, sees as corrosive of democratic norms...Levendusky’s methodological approach is that taken by leading studies on the field, but the book is still written in an accessible manner so that concerned citizens outside academia may find it informative." - Perspectives on Politics