Members of the Utah House work on the floor during a special session at the state Capitol in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 18, 2018. | Associated Press file photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News
OREM — Utah’s political leaders often consider the “Utah way” of doing politics to be more civil, collaborative, and welcoming. But a recent study found that Utahns are just as divided along partisan lines as people nationwide.
The to studyconducted by Utah Valley University’s Center for Constitutional Studies surveyed more than 5,000 Americans, including 1,000 from Utah, and found a high level of political animosity in Utah and the U.S., along with an unwillingness to compromise or work with the opposing side.
The researchers also said Utahns were “mixed” in terms of support for democratic norms, although Utahns were generally more favorable to the norms than Americans as a whole.
“The research shows how this division has left Utahns mixed in their support for basic democratic norms,” said Jay DeSart, chair of the school’s history and political science department. “While a majority supports freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest, other principles seemed more tenuous, such as the rule of law and the need for elected leaders to work within the normal boundaries of rules and procedures.”
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Written by BRIDGER BEAL-CVETKO, KSL.com.
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