Pick a Side: The Connection Between Political Agnosticism and Polarisation in North Carolina

Across many Western democracies, there has been a decline in support for traditional political parties, coupled with a rising interest in populism and a widening political divide. This shift is evident in both mass and elite polarisation, signalling the onset of a new political era marked by heightened partisanship and increasingly fragmented societies. Within this context, political agnostics have become a significant group. Civically active, ideologically unaligned from the predominant political parties and selective of their policy positions, this group finds itself caught between factions. Political agnostics’ role in polarised environments has important implications for democracy and representation. This paper examines this group's emergence, political behaviour, and impact in North Carolina (NC) during the 2024 US general election. The analysis extends beyond North Carolina, drawing comparative insights from Northern Ireland, particularly in the post-Good Friday Agreement era, which has been challenged by political polarisation and voter disillusionment. In North Carolina, voters exhibited a distinctive split in their voting patterns, supporting candidates with significantly different policy positions across party lines. This divergence highlights the increasing presence of political agnosticism within a polarised American electorate. By analysing exit poll data and electoral trends in NC, this study explores how political agnosticism functions in a hyper-polarized environment and investigates its implications for voter decision-making, representation, and policy outcomes. Comparisons between Northern Ireland and North Carolina provide critical insights into how political agnosticism interacts with and potentially mitigates political polarisation. As polarisation intensifies in democratic systems across Western democracies, understanding the dynamics of political agnosticism becomes increasingly important. Moreover, the impending prospect of a referendum on Irish unification heightens the need to understand the behaviour of agnostic voters in Northern Ireland, where they represent a plurality. This paper contributes to the growing literature on political polarisation and democratic resilience, emphasising the necessity of better representing and engaging politically agnostic groups as vital actors in contemporary democracies.