PARTIES, POLITICS, POLARIZATION - LESSONS FROM THE US MIDTERMS

In recent years, we have witnessed a profound realignment of American politics, which has been marked by
changes in the ideologies of the two major parties, the issues dominating the public debate, voter structures, and electoral tactics. The concomitant political polarization reached a (first?) peak when angry protestors, believing the 2020 Presidential Elections to have been "stolen," stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to prevent the formal recognition of Joseph Biden’s victory. The heat of American politics has hardly cooled off since, the energy crisis and inflation further unsettling American voters this year. In this situation, elections to both the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate seats will take place on November 8, 2022. Moreover, several important gubernatorial elections will be held at the same time.