Why does political polarization persist even when basic theory predicts convergence? This work combines formal models, network theory, and simulation to understand how social sorting, abstention, and echo chambers shape political outcomes.
The median voter theorem predicts convergence — so why does polarization persist? Bringing abstention and ideologically motivated voters into the model changes the math, and the predictions, considerably.
Why do online communities sort themselves into echo chambers? A model of how cognitive biases interact with network structure to drive polarization in public discourse.