Politics to the extreme
Subtitle: American political institutions in the twenty-first century
By: edited by Scott A. Frisch and Sean Q Kelly ; foreword by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 246
ISBN-13: 9781137324924; 9781137361424
Subjects: Politics and government
Description: "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"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Part I. Causes and consequences of partisan polarization- 1. Appropriations to the extreme: partisanship and the power of the purse / Geoffrey W. Buhl, Scott A. Frisch, and Sean Q Kelly; title: 2. The Gingrich senators, the Tea Party senators, and their effect on the US Senate / Sean M. Theriault; title: 3. The weaponization of congressional oversight: the politics of the watchful eye, 1947-2010 / David C.W. Parker and Matthew Dull; title: 4. Taking incivility seriously: analyzing breaches of decorum in the US Congress, 1891-2012 / Lawrence C. Dodd and Scot Schraufnagel; title: 5. Let's play hardball: congressional partisanship in the television era / Douglas B. Harris; title: 6. Profile politics: examining polarization through congressional member Facebook pages / José Marichal; title: 7. Necessary and damaging: presidential base electoral strategies and partisan polarization / Lara M. Brown; title: 8. A polarizing court?: analyzing judicial decisions in a red/blue America / Kevin J. McMahon; title: Part II. Bridging the partisan divide; title: 9. Growing apart: "civilista" attempts to bridge the partisan rift / Frank H. Mackaman; title: 10. Can polarization be "fixed"?: California's experiment with the top-Two primary / Seth E. Masket; title: 11. How to turn Democrats and Republicans into Americans / Mickey Edwards.