I understand that prior to the 1960s, American political parties did not strictly divide themselves along Liberal/Conservative lines. If real, did the reluctance to sort by ideology came from the suppression of the South after the Civil War? To what degree is the current polarization an outlier?

by catras_new_haircut

Specifically, I am curious if, in the words of a commenter on r/law, there is any substance to the idea that there was a reluctance to sort by ideology caused directly by the scars of internecine violence in the civil war

ttrombonist

While you wait for an answer to your specific question, there is an entire section of the AskHistorians FAQ dedicated to how the different coalitions coalesced into the modern Democratic and Republican parties over the course of the later 19th and 20th centuries.