Research by European scholars clearly answers yes. Their studies paint a picture that is the mirror image of that in the United States. The political class in European democracies is depolarizing and/or de-sorting. But as in the United States, this development appears to be only weakly tied to changes in their electorates. European electorates show some sorting but a great deal of stability. Regrettably, these studies do not suggest any mechanisms that might lead to de-sorting in the United States. One development that might (or might not) be related to elite depolarization in Europe is the rise of far-right (i.e., anti-immigrant) parties.
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