The Creation and Legacy of “Have Americans’ Social Attitudes Become More Polarized”

Thirty years ago, Paul DiMaggio, Bethany Bryson and I published an article in the American Journal of Sociology titled “Have Americans’ Social Attitudes Become More Polarized?” In this article, I recount some of the social context and process of creating the article and describe how it exemplifies the DiMaggio academic style. The style is: (a) a focus on conceptualization of social processes that have previously been only vaguely described; (b) a push for innovation in measurement and estimation; (c) attention to social theory. I finish by showing the influence and legacy of this paper over the past 30 years. While the topical foci of scholars change, as do their measures and methods, the emphasis on conceptualization in the paper has guaranteed its enduring legacy.