How Polarization Begets Polarization

Among the leading students of the increasing polarization of American politics, the authors of this important new book lay out a novel institutional perspective on the interaction between polarization in Congress and competition at the district level. * Robert D. Putnam, Research Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and co-author of The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again. *
Merrill, Grofman, and Brunell have provided the most sophisticated analysis yet of how polarization results from competing demands on candidates to be moderate in order to appeal to the preferences of most voters vs. appealing to their own base for the sake of mobilizing extremists and their moneyed supporters. Their analysis reveals when these competing demands result in convergence to moderate positions, and when they lead to self-reinforcing polarization. * Robert Axelrod, William D. Hamilton Distinguished University Professor, Emeritus *
The literature on legislative polarization identifies numerous contributors, among them party sorting among voters, the influence of party activists, internal legislative organization, and the level of party parity. This book's contribution consists of integrating these disparate forces into a single dynamic model that generates the unhappy implication: polarization begets polarization. * Morris P. Fiorina, Wendt Family Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution *
Merrill, Grofman, and Brunell's deft theoretical and empirical examination of the complex links between congressional politics and district-level electoral competition delivers a coherent and persuasive account of how institutional processes have sustained and amplified partisan polarization. It is a major contribution to understanding this corrosive feature of present-day American politics. * Gary Jacobson, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Emeritus *
What's causing US politics to polarize? For a quick answer, blame the other party's appalling behavior! But for the best answer, read Merrill, Grofman, and Brunell's fascinating and sophisticated account of the hidden processes causing these disturbing patterns in American politics. * Gary King, Weatherhead University Professor, and Director of the Institute for Quantitative Political Science, Harvard University *
This is an ambitious book that tackles the ever-present question of why American politics has polarized-and continues to polarize today. The authors demonstrate how electoral and partisan incentives can propel partisans-from lawmakers to candidates and activists-to champion policies that increasingly diverge from the political center. An essential contribution to scholarship and debates about polarization and how it might one day be tamed. * Sarah Binder, George Washington University and The Brookings Institution *
The authors' presentation is sometimes challenging, but the resulting analysis makes this relatively short book very valuable for understanding American political polarization. Recommended. * Choice *