Study: Most Americans Are Not Extreme Partisans, But An ‘Exhausted Majority’

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Photo: Steamboat Zinke Protest 2 (HV)
Several women on horseback were among the hundreds of people protesting in Steamboat Springs on Friday against an appearance by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.

A week before Election Day, and with a string of partisan attacks dominating the news, it can feel like a time of extreme political polarization.

Polarization brings to mind two extremes, but a new study find the situation is more nuanced. Stephen Hawkins is research director for the nonprofit More In Common, which works to reduce division in Democratic societies.

Hawkins is lead author of "Hidden Tribes," which identifies seven different groups found by surveying 8,000 people. He talked to Colorado Matters about how most Americans fall into the five tribes in the middle, which he calls the "Exhausted Majority."