Social Analysis
The Two-Party System
The two-party system encourages deep partisanship and polarization between Democrats and Republicans. Third parties have been unable to succeed because the simple-majority election method ensures that only the votes for the winning party take effect, removing the possibility of more nuanced perspectives between Democrat and Republican politicians. Right now, most people avoid voting for politicians they most agree with, instead choosing to push the main candidate for the Democratic or Republican party for fear of "splitting the vote" and allowing other party to win the simple majority.
The COVID-19 Pandemic
Major leaders in the Republican party downplayed the seriousness of the virus, calling it comparable to the flu or even a hoax, inducing Republicans to comply less with social distancing guidelines and have less confidence in medical scientists. Such a large portion of the population disregarding COVID-19 safety policies and remaining unvaccinated has contributed to the continuing circulation of COVID-19 and the evolution of new, deadlier strains. So much of the current state of the US originates with the politicization of COVID-19, and so many deaths could have been prevented by a more united, science-based response to the pandemic. Additionally, one of the reasons Trump downplayed COVID-19 was because of the upcoming election. The stock market had already fallen, and a full shutdown would have been bad for the economy — which would in turn reflect poorly on his presidency — so instead of ensuring the public’s health, Trump prioritized his reelection.
The War on Education
The politicization of science is closely entwined with the politicization of public education. One ideology that affects the politicization of public education is capitalism, namely, through the idea of the free market. Education has become perceived as another “market” where parents can choose what type of education their children receive. Public schools have governmental oversight and are therefore required to teach more accurate science than privately-run schools. Combined with the fact that public schools’ government oversight also requires a greater degree of tolerance for marginalized communities such as queer people and POC, certain parents’ rights groups have politicized the public education system out of anger that they cannot “take their business elsewhere” when it comes to their tax money that goes to public schools.
Why the Republican Party
Social Reasons
Major Republican politicians, namely Donald Trump and his associates, politicized COVID-19 and vaccination to protect Trump’s presidency. The Republican party has also historically been pro-business, so Republican politicians tend to support the denial of climate change by large corporations like oil and gas companies. Also, in general, people tend to hold opinions that match the social group they identify with, as well as trust information from their in-group members. Therefore, because the Republican party has historically rejected science, Republican news sources tend to contain scientific information that lines up with their existing conceptions, creating an echo chamber of misinformation. Lastly, being vocally anti-science is as much a social signal to indicate belonging: people who identify themselves as Republicans reject scientific measures such as vaccination to prove their social and cultural identities.
Ideological & Psychological Reasons
A socially conservative worldview (ie. the philosophy centering tradition, established institutions, and slow change) often goes with anti-science attitudes. Numerous studies have shown that people who hold conservative ideologies score lower on tests of enjoyment of thinking, acceptance of ambiguity, and active open-minded thinking — and score higher in cognitive and perceptual rigidity. All of these traits do not mesh well with the principles of scientific inquiry and the fluid nature of evolving scientific knowledge. Conservatives in the US are also more prone to conspiratorial mindsets, which itself is associated with rejection of scientific ideas, such as climate change and vaccination. Additionally, political conservatives score higher on measures of authoritarianism (the belief that people should submit to powerful authority figures), which has been found to predict anti-scientific attitudes, likely because science involves the equal sharing of knowledge and updating with new findings instead of defaulting to the established authority.