Media attention serves as sole reward for "conflict entrepreneurs" using personal insults in Congress

Notre Dame research shows "conflict entrepreneurs" use insults to gain 10x more media attention, but suffer in legislative success and committee assignments.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 21, 2026, 5:46 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from University of Notre Dame

The Rise of the Political Conflict Entrepreneur

In an era where political discourse frequently shifts from policy debate to character assassination, researchers have sought to identify the specific incentives driving this incivility. Political scientist Marc Jacob and his colleagues have introduced the term "conflict entrepreneur" to describe legislators who prioritize personal attacks on the morality or intellect of their peers over substantive governance. This communication style represents a departure from traditional democratic conflict, which historically focused on ideological disagreements aimed at reaching a legislative compromise.

Mapping the 118th Congress through Big Data

To understand the reach of divisive rhetoric, the research team conducted a massive analysis of the 118th U.S. Congress, examining over 2.2 million public statements. These included social media posts, press releases, and floor speeches, which were categorized using a large language model to distinguish between "critical debate" on policy and "personal attacks" on individuals. The findings revealed an asymmetric pattern across the aisle; while personal insults are present in both parties, they are utilized 2.7 times more frequently by Republicans and are significantly more common in the House of Representatives than in the Senate.

The Disproportionate Reach of Divisive Rhetoric

The study’s most significant finding is the extreme efficiency with which insults generate visibility. A legislator who spends only 5 percent of their public communications on personal attacks receives the same amount of cable news coverage as a colleague who spends 45 percent of their time on policy. This disparity is even more pronounced in the digital sphere, where social media posts containing insults are shared more than twice as often as those focused on policy. Effectively, the 25 most combative members of Congress command more media attention than the 75 least combative members combined.