The Words and Phrases that Work Across Divides
April 2, 2026
You send a signal with every word you use.
Some words invite people in. Others push them away.
And in today's polarized environment, the gap between the two has never been more important.
You already know this intuitively. You've felt the tension when drafting a message that needs to resonate with multiple audiences all at once. You've debated whether a term will land the way you intend — or whether it will trigger assumptions that close the door before your audience even hears what you have to say.
Thankfully, there's data to help guide those decisions.
One of our favorite tools for assessing and choosing accessible language is the Civic Language Perceptions Project from Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE).
PACE’s research — conducted in partnership with More in Common — tests how Americans perceive common civic terms, and we were excited to see them release a fresh round of data this year.
The updated findings, based on a national survey of 21 civic terms, offer a practical roadmap for communicators who want to reach broader audiences without diluting their values.
Here's what the data reveal — and how you can apply it to your work.
The words that bridge divides
"Community," "freedom," "unity," "service," and "belonging" consistently rank as the most connective terms in the study.
These words score high across political ideology, age, and geography.
When you're crafting messages intended for broad audiences, anchoring your language in these terms gives you the strongest foundation for connection.
This doesn't mean you should use them as empty buzzwords.
We recommend building your messaging around the values they represent and letting them do the heavy lifting when you need to establish common ground quickly.
Some terms are gaining strength
Surprisingly, many civic terms have become more connective in recent years — even as divisions have grown more stark.
Between 2023 and 2025, terms like "unity," "civility," "civic engagement," and "democracy" all increased in their ability to resonate across groups.
Even terms that carry stronger ideological associations — like "racial equity" and "social justice" — showed meaningful gains.
This matters for communicators who have been uncertain about whether to continue these phrases.
The lesson: don't abandon your core language based on assumptions about how it will land.
Test it. Revisit it. And pay attention to how perceptions are shifting over time.
Know your audience
The research also examined how civic terms are perceived differently by specific audiences across three key dimensions: political ideology, age, and whether someone lives in an urban or rural community.
The findings challenge some common assumptions.
Political ideology remains the strongest divider. Terms like "diversity" and "social justice" lean strongly liberal in perception, while "patriotism" and "law and order" lean strongly conservative.
But here's the nuance: a term can carry an ideological signal and still be broadly positive. The key is knowing which terms carry strong signals and how to use them.
Age-specific signals are often just as powerful as political ones. Terms like "constitution," "liberty," and "patriotism" resonate more strongly with older Americans, while "belonging" and "community" hold steady across generations.
If you're trying to reach younger audiences, leaning on these generationally neutral terms will keep the door open.
Geography matters less than you might think. The urban-rural divide in language perception is weaker and less consistent than ideological or age differences.
This challenges the idea that you need fundamentally different messaging for different geographies. Many terms work regardless of whether someone lives at the end of a dirt road or in a big-city high rise.
How to put this into practice
Knowing what the data say is one thing. Applying it to your daily communications work is another. Here are four ways to start:
1. Audit your go-to language.
Pull up your most recent fundraising appeal, your website homepage, and your last board presentation. Look at the terms you're relying on most heavily.
Are they words that connect broadly — or are they sending signals that narrow your audience?
You don't need to overhaul everything. But small shifts in word choice can meaningfully expand who feels invited into your story.
2. Pair terms strategically.
When you need to use a term that carries a strong ideological signal, pair it with one that leans the other direction.
The research suggests that combinations like "constitution" paired with "democracy," or "American" paired with "diversity," can widen the appeal of your message without watering it down. Think of it as creating linguistic balance that signals to multiple audiences at once.
3. Describe, don't label.
People respond far more to concrete descriptions than to abstract labels.
When asked to name threats to democratic institutions, a majority chose "abuse of power" over "authoritarianism" — even though both describe similar concerns.
The language that resonates is specific, behavioral, and grounded in recognizable experience.
Apply this principle broadly: when you're communicating about challenges facing your community, lead with what's happening and what's at stake — not with ideological shorthand or jargon.
4. Give people something to be for.
The most positively received civic terms — "freedom," "community," "service" — are aspirational.
The research confirms what effective communicators have long known: people engage more when they're invited to stand for something than when they're asked to react against something.
Frame your messages around the future you're building, not just the problems you're fighting.
Language is infrastructure
Your language choices are not cosmetic. They shape who feels included in your mission, who trusts your organization, and who is willing to act alongside you.
In a moment when public trust is fragile and attention is scarce, the precision of your language matters as much as the quality of your programs.
The good news is data are increasingly available to help you make informed choices. Tools like the civic language research — along with the messaging audits and audience personas we recommend — can help you build a language strategy that is intentional, evidence-based, and aligned with your values.
The words you choose already send signals. Make sure they're sending the right ones.
