Politics to the Extreme ― American Political Institutions in the Twenty-first Century

"The United States currently faces challenges of historic proportions: The deepest recession since the Great Depression, an international economy teetering toward a partial collapse, two wars, and structural deficits to name just a few. American political institutions are notorious for producing gridlock under the best of circumstances. Every indication is that political elites are polarized to a degree not seen in the US since the Civil War. With parties and interests seemingly uninterested in compromise arrayed against one another, these institutions are ill-equipped to respond to these profound challenges. Data consistently illustrates the increasing ideological polarization between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. In the 95th Senate conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans overlapped in the center of the political spectrum. A decade later the degree of ideological overlap was minimal; and in the 109th Congress had all but disappeared. The result is the almost complete gridlock the country has experienced over the last decade. In Politics to the Extreme leading scholars and experts address the causes and consequences of polarization in American politics, and suggest solutions for bridging the partisan divide"--