“Extremism” in America: Biased Research, Bad Policy, and the Sources of Antidemocratic Tendencies
The use of “extremism” is often used to rationalize stepping outside typical constraints on the use of power. Constitutional restraint and governmental accountability can be set aside more easily when “extremism” is the enemy. Likewise, social media, the financial industry, and the media routinely engage in the “fight” against extremism. Unfortunately, powerful actors justify extra-institutional actions with flawed findings and empirical sleights-of-hand. But it is precisely such actions that erode the foundations of a free society as well as trust and accountability in institutions…
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