More Like US corrects dangerous political misperceptions of each other, at scale. Research finds Americans are more similar – and less threatening – across politics than they think, sometimes known as the political “Perception Gap.” When people have overblown political misperceptions of each other, fears of each other worsen, and fearful people can take fearful actions. Our relationships, communities, and even system of government are at risk. Luckily, research also finds great benefits of correcting these political misperceptions. 

More Like US currently has three main initiatives:

1. ReCAST Network training program and collaboration for social media influencers: This program guides individual content creators to present Americans across the political spectrum in a better and more accurate light, in ways that can go viral. Participants see how they can CAST fellow Americans as more Complex, Admirable, Similar, and worthy of Togetherness (CAST) than expected. Conducted with influencer Left-Middle-Right, which has over 100,000 social media followers, longer-term goals involve additional cohorts, a vibrant network of content creators, and expanding elsewhere in the Arts.

2. Survey data aggregation tool Similarity Hub, with clear benefits for journalists: Along with collaborator AllSides, More Like US built this tool that shows hundreds of policy and viewpoint overlaps between Republicans and Democrats, across nearly two dozen topics, many of them hot-button. This is particularly useful for journalists, who can easily include examples of common ground, as well as civic and religious leaders to use in public communications.

3. Perception Gap lesson plan/presentation: This covers examples of the Perception Gap, along with causes, consequences, and potential solutions. It is appropriate for high school students, as well as college students, and even adults. It should reduce the anxiety of having civil discourse. It also counteracts feelings of threat that support illiberalism and authoritarianism. Longer-term, More Like US seeks scale by integrating content into resources from other non-profits, and into district curricula, state standards, and university programming.

Each initiative has an academic partner to test the efficacy of these efforts: ReCAST Network (Mina Cikara, Harvard), Similarity Hub for newspaper articles (Myiah Hutchens, U. of Florida), and Perception Gap lesson plan/presentation (Diana Owen, Georgetown). More Like US has also built a Social Science Advisory Council of more than a dozen academics to ensure all resources and initiatives reflect latest research. 

The organization’s four co-founders hail from across the political spectrum and offer decades of experience running non-profits and working in media. Executive / Project Director James Coan has been closely involved with efforts to reduce political polarization at organizations such as Braver Angels. Ann Schockett is a former president of the National Federation of Republican Women, Dane Erickson is a cross-sectoral executive who has advised multiple Democratic presidential campaigns, and Bazi Kanani served nearly 20 years as an anchor and reporter for major news organizations.

Project Director Bio:

James Coan is the Executive and Project Director for More Like US. James has been involved closely in efforts to reduce US political division since shortly after the 2016 election, with a main interest in finding and implementing effective interventions at scale. He has served as DC Alliance Co-chair and Mid-Atlantic Regional Lead for Braver Angels, one of the largest organizations focused on reducing political divisions, and previously co-led social media and Ambassador outreach nationally. He brings more than 10 years of strategy consulting experience, and he worked at a think tank after receiving a degree in public policy from Princeton.