Divided

States

By Chris Scott, news producer

The United States is more divided than it has been for decades, with ultra-conservative Republicans and left-leaning forces within the Democrats widening the gap between the two parties.

It is a nation so polarised that eight out of 10 Americans say that they disagree with the other party not only on policy but basic facts. The most divisive issues are the two parties' differing views on President Donald Trump, gun control, abortion and immigration.

The country is fractured down party lines. There has been a hollowing out of the middle ground of US politics and supporters of both sides are becoming increasingly partisan.

No one personifies the partisan divide quite like Mr Trump. Among Republicans, the president has an approval rating of 88%, but among Democrats that figure is just 8%.

Mr Trump's supporters perceive him as the strongman the country needs; tough on borders, crime and good for the economy. Most Democrats, however, consider Mr Trump unfit for office.

Protests against the president started the day after his inauguration with a women's march and have been a common theme of Mr Trump's first term ever since.

The Trump administration has also found itself embroiled in numerous scandals. As well as the Mueller investigation into whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow to help the Republicans win the 2016 election, his presidency has become mired in a potentially even bigger problem – impeachment.

As the process has got under way, Mr Trump’s rating has struggled to move above the low 40s. That’s below the average for any sitting president since 1938 apart from Jimmy Carter.

Partisan animosity has increased so dramatically that 81% of Americans now hold unfavourable views of those not in their party, with most Democrats and Republicans saying they have "just a few" or no friends in the opposite party.

The issue of abortion rights has been one of the most divisive subjects in American politics for the past half century. But, that wasn't always the case.

In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v Wade - one of America's landmark court cases - that abortion was a fundamental right under the US Constitution. The law passed with little controversy in a 7-2 ruling.

Abortion was seen by the majority of Americans as a women's health issue because illegal and botched abortions had resulted in deaths. But after the ruling, abortion became a lightning rod for the evangelical Christian movement which claimed it was murder and an immoral act.

Ever since Roe v Wade, the country has been split, again, down party lines. The majority of Democrats align themselves with the pro-choice movement – a woman's right to govern her own body – while most Republicans see themselves as pro-life – that life starts at conception.

Many Republican voters have been trying to overturn Roe v Wade ever since it passed, electing pro-lifers to office who would then appoint pro-life judges to local and state courts and most importantly the Supreme Court.

In 1992, Roe v Wade faced its biggest challenge to date with the Supreme Court case of Planned Parenthood v Casey. Republicans thought they would finally overturn the law as the court had eight justices appointed by Republican presidents.

However, Roe v Wade was upheld in a narrow 5-4 ruling, with Justice Anthony Kennedy casting the deciding vote.

But with Mr Kennedy retiring from the court in the summer of 2018, Roe v Wade is under threat yet again. President Trump said during his presidential campaign that he would only appoint pro-life judges to the court.

He has now appointed Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh which has swung the court 5-4 in the Republicans' favour, meaning abortion rights are once more in the balance.

The Kavanaugh appointment also dragged the Supreme Court into partisan politics. During his confirmation hearings, the judge was accused by multiple women of sexual assault, charges he denied. Some 84% of Republicans believed Mr Kavanaugh's account, while 86% of Democrats believed his accuser.

Mr Kavanaugh was eventually confirmed by the Senate, 50-48, in a vote that saw only one Democrat and one Republican defect from the rest of their party. It is the lowest number of votes a Supreme Court judge has ever received.

The US has more gun deaths - both homicides and suicides – and mass shootings than any other high-income country. Some 44% of Americans personally know someone who has been shot.

Democrats have been trying, and failing, for decades to pass gun control restrictions to limit the number of gun deaths in the US, spurred on by the national outcries that have followed the mass shootings at schools, nightclubs, concerts, cinemas and churches.

Gun legislation has failed because of strong opposition from Republican voters and politicians. Most Republicans see the right to bear arms as an almost sacred privilege, guaranteed under the second amendment of the US Constitution.

The National Rifle Association has also played a major role, spending millions of dollars to elect or lobby politicians to make sure gun control legislation fails.

Three-quarters of Republicans believe owning a gun is essential to their freedom, and 71% of Republican gun owners believe more guns mean less crime.

President Trump's immigration policies have arguably been his most controversial.

He has proposed a travel ban on Muslims from entering the US, called Mexicans crossing the border "rapists and murderers" and promised to build a wall to keep them out.

His administration has also come under fire for separating families who have illegally come to the US and locking undocumented children in cages. Two children have died while in custody.

Mr Trump and his supporters claim stronger borders better protect the US from terrorism and crime while also safeguarding American jobs. Democrats believe immigrants strengthen the country.

Mr Trump's border wall along the US/Mexican border is estimated to cost $21.6bn (£16.4bn), but most unauthorised immigrants to the US do not come via the border, rather, they travel by air on tourist or business visas and simply stay once they've expired. Visa overstays have actually outnumbered undocumented border crossings by half a million since 2007.

Mr Trump's America First policies also appear to have emboldened white nationalist groups within the United States. One example was the president's failure to condemn a "Unite the Right" march in Charlottesville, North Carolina, which resulted in 30 injuries and one death when a group of neo-Nazis clashed with counter-protesters.

Edited by: Peter Diapre and Alan Strange

Design by: Adam Wood and Matt Simpson

Development by: Mark Groak, Arron Sekhri, Joseph Pitts and Spencer Hudson