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"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"--
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Foreword; Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein Introduction; Scott A. Frisch and Sean Q Kelly 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 2. The Gingrich Senators, the Tea Party Senators, and Their Effect on the U.S. Senate; Sean Theriault 3. The Weaponization of Congressional Oversight: The Politics of the Watchful Eye, 1947-2010; David C.W. Parker and Matthew Dull 4. Party Polarization, Member Incivility, and Legislative Productivity: A Two-Dimensional Perspective on Conflict and Moderation in Congress; Lawrence C. Dodd and Scot Schraufnagel 5. Let's Play Hardball: Congressional Partisanship in the Television Era; Douglas Harris 6. Profile Politics: Examining Polarization through Congressional Member Facebook Pages; José Marichal 7. Necessary and Damaging: Presidential Base Electoral Strategies and Partisan Polarization; Lara Brown 8. A Polarizing Supreme Court? Judicial Decisions in a Red/Blue America; Kevin J. McMahon PART II: BRIDGING THE PARTISAN DIVIDE 9. Growing Apart: 'Civilista' Attempts to Bridge the Partisan Rift; Frank Mackaman 10. Can Polarization be Mitigated? California's Experiment with the Top-Two Primary; Seth Masket 11. How to Turn Democrats and Republicans into Americans; Mickey Edwards
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Lara M. Brown, Villanova University, USA
Geoffrey Buhl, California State University Channel Islands, USA
Lawrence C. Dodd, University of Florida, USA
Matthew Dull, Virginia Tech University, USA
Mickey Edwards, Aspen Institute, USA
Douglas B. Harris, Loyola University, USA
Seth E. Masket, University of Denver, USA
Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center, USA
Thomas E. Mann, The Brookings Institution, USA
Jose Marichal, California Lutheran University, USA
Kevin J. McMahon, Trinity College, USA
Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute (AEI), USA
David C.W. Parker, Montana State University Bozeman, USA
Scot Schraufnagel, Northern Illinois University, USA
Sean M. Theriault, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Bericht
"The dysfunctional gridlock of the modern Congress is on display for even the most casual observers. The bad behavior in Congress reflects deep divisions across the political environment including the media and other institutions- even the Supreme Court. In Politics to the Extreme some of the nation's most savvy observers explain and explore how extreme partisan polarization is undermining effective government. Thoughtful and illuminating books like this one are necessary if we are to find our way to the difficult solutions." Richard A. Arenber, Adjunct Professor at Brown University, USA and co-author of Defending the Filibuster
