Abstract
James A Thurber and Antoine Yoshinaka provide an excellent edited volume on the history and present state of political polarization and gridlock in the United States. Thurber and Yoshinaka suggest that our political system may be dangerously broken. This work includes a number of well-presented and researched chapters written by a group of respected scholars in the field of politics and polarization, from the fields of political science and communications. This work grew from an American Political Science Association (APSA) study group that took place in May 2014. Several of the contributors to this book were involved in a meeting held at American University. This work seeks to further provide a series of perspectives related to what political polarization is, what are its consequences for the political system, and what might be done to address this phenomenon?
Their book suggests several points of consensus among observers of political polarization. These include: (1) the parties in Congress and State legislatures are polarized in that they are internally unified and distinct from one another as any time in our history; (2) the fit between political parties and ideology is quite strong; (3) in an environment of divided government and split chamber control, Congress does not operate as an effective body to generate legislation; (4) public approval of Congress and trust in government is quite low; (5) there are issues related to economic and political inequalities; (6) polarization may be more than just “sorting” the political partisan landscape; and, finally, (7) the parties exhibit strong ideological differences at the state and national level as well as among party activists and voters.
The presentation of the book provides both an accessible view for those less interested in quantitatively oriented analysis and in-depth analytic presentations using sophisticated data analysis. Thus, it is both accessible and valuable to a wide range of audiences. The various chapters employ a variety of sources of data including public opinion surveys, electoral outcome measurements, legislative votes and history, and content analysis of various media outlets both original to this work and elsewhere. This aspect of the book is particularly salient, given the range of media organizations in the United States today, such as MSNBC, CNN, FOX, to the traditional mainstream networks as well as various major newspapers, who all play a role in the current polarized situation. The book provides numerous examples of polarization which provides context to the reader.
Some chapters provide specific tests using the analysis of roll call voting, comparative analyses of public responses to mainstream versus partisan media on various subsets of voters, and assessments of structural procedures such as filibusters in the US Senate, and procedures that alter electoral choices such as cross-filing of candidates in California.
While the book addresses well the role of various television outlets, mainstream and partisan sources, television anchors, and how the public processes these mediated messages, perhaps a small weakness of the book is that it included little related to the role of political pundits, surrogates, political consultants, and the role of social media in American politics. However, these areas may be left to other works to address in the future. Thurber and Yoshinaka themselves note that this book is designed to review the field of polarization and encourage future scholarship.
The work recalls the 1950s call by APSA political scientists in “Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System: A Report of the Committee on Political Parties.” This book presents numerous examples of how one should be careful for what one wishes for. In some ways, the parties are responsible, stating what they stand for and then, through polarization, holding to these principles. With the decline of moderates in politics, along with Republicans being much more polarized to the right while Democrats have moved somewhat to the left, there appears to be little cooperation and compromise among our political leaders.
The book is divided into major segments dealing with a variety of topics including polarization among voters and activists; polarization in national institutions, including the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court; polarization in the states; and polarization in the media. The book presents implications and conclusions regarding gridlock and polarization. The authors address issues specifically related to political party identification of and the sorting of voters, the role of party activists, liberals versus conservatives, policy consequences resulting from polarization, electoral coalitions, race, and various other political and cultural divides. Also presented is how Congress and the Supreme Court address polarization. Additionally, the authors specifically address the issues of the redistricting of Congressional districts and the relationship between party politicians and lobbyists on polarization.
The authors identify and raise significant issues related to polarization. They raise questions such as: if polarization has negative consequences, how do we move to less ideological warfare; are there reforms that can reduce or even eliminate partisan polarization and legislative gridlock; and perhaps polarization is good because it may result in benefits that are better than the cures that could be applied to address it?
Thurber and Yoshinaka conclude their work by providing a number of potential reforms on how elections are conducted including increasing the use of open, nonpartisan, and blanket primaries; removing redistricting from the hands of politicians in order to create more balanced districts; curbing the influence of outside “dark” money in elections—and, therefore, possibly increasing the likelihood of individuals and parties to impact elections by raising campaign contribution limits and address issues of transparency of campaign funds; changing the nature of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by restructuring its membership and more effectively enforcing campaign finance regulations; and finally, they suggest that one should also consider the potential possible positive effects of third parties on polarization. After considering the significant work provided by this book, one must consider the issues of polarization and then be careful what you wish for in terms of potential reforms. It is important to remember that the US Founding Fathers created a system of checks and balances that in some ways has led to the gridlock we face. One has to wonder whether our present political state is what they expected. In conclusion, this book is an important contribution to the field of politics and lays out territory to be further explored.