Greater polarization pushes voters to reduce insulation against policy reform.

Evidence

Proof: See Appendix. The intuition for this result is straightforward: more polarization increases the risk of ending up at the bottom of the preference distribution, which in turn leads to a low income when the reform is implemented; reducing insulation will limit that risk. — Philippe Aghion, Alberto Alesina, and Francesco Trebbi, Endogenous Political Institutions, 106

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Polarization and risk aversion both erode institutional commitment, inverting the usual intuition that division demands firmer rules.
• SEED: An essay on why divided, anxious electorates prefer reversible governance to binding constitutions.