The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America

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The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America

3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 · rating details · 74 ratings · 13 reviews

From one of America's most respected political commentators, an epic, shrewd, and important big-picture analysis of the forces that have made this era in American politics as divisive and bitterly partisan as any since the Civil War.

Few don't appreciate that in recent years American politics has seemingly become much more partisan, more zero-sum, more vicious, more willi...more From one of America's most respected political commentators, an epic, shrewd, and important big-picture analysis of the forces that have made this era in American politics as divisive and bitterly partisan as any since the Civil War.

Few don't appreciate that in recent years American politics has seemingly become much more partisan, more zero-sum, more vicious, more willing to make mountains out of molehills, and less able to confront the mountains of real problems we face. And yet in poll after poll, the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as either "very conservative" or "very liberal" hasn't budged in more than a generation. What has happened? In The Second Civil War, Ronald Brownstein brilliantly diagnoses the electoral, demographic, and institutional forces that have brought such change over the American political landscape, pulling politics to the margins and leaving precious little common ground for compromise.

Displaying the deep historical perspective for which he is noted, Brownstein begins with a history of the evolving climate for partisanship since the dawn of the modern political era in 1896, presenting a fresh and bold reinterpretation of American politics and the personalities who have shaped it from Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Offering both sweeping analysis and intimate detail drawn from exclusive interviews with top officials and strategists in both parties, The Second Civil War captures the currents that have carried America to today's dangerous impasse, from little-understood changes in congressional rules that made it easier for parties to enforce discipline and discourage compromise to the rise of special-interest pressure groups to a vastly changed media environment that has become much more vicious and much less serious.

While there was no Golden Age, and in many respects the increasing plurality of voices that get to have a say in our politics is all to the good, the net-net is a system in which compromise and conciliation are thwarted at almost every turn and big problems that require broad consensus continue to fester ominously, unaddressed and growing more and more painful to face as we approach crisis situations. But Ronald Brownstein ends with a menu of clear and compelling ways out of our collective dilemma, largely centering on the opportunity for unifying leadership. The Second Civil War is not a book for Democrats or Republicans per se but for all Americans who are disturbed by our current political dysfunction and hungry for ways to understand it-and move beyond it.(less)

Hardcover, 496 pages

Published November 1st 2007 by Penguin Press HC, The (first published 2007)

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May 13, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Brownstein's study of hyperpartisanism provides a thorough historical background and a a pretty level analysis of how our current political parties - both of them - have led us to a point where the country is so evenly divided into doctrinaire factions not even close to one another in ideology that we have quite a logjam in government. His solution (make it easier and more acceptable to compromise) is reasonable if difficult to achieve given the current political mindset. That's the good part. U...more

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Sep 28, 2010 Jared added it

Long time political journalist Ron Brownstein surveys the past 150 years of American politics to distinguish the trends that have led to the polarized political climate we know today. This book was a gift from G, who used to know the author professionally.

Brownstein functions here as both a journalist and a historian, and offers a thorough analysis that draws surprising but convincing parallels between for instance the politics of today and those of a century ago in terms of how the press and Co...more Long time political journalist Ron Brownstein surveys the past 150 years of American politics to distinguish the trends that have led to the polarized political climate we know today. This book was a gift from G, who used to know the author professionally.

Brownstein functions here as both a journalist and a historian, and offers a thorough analysis that draws surprising but convincing parallels between for instance the politics of today and those of a century ago in terms of how the press and Congress and political parties were organized and operated. He makes a convincing case that the bipartisanship of midcentury was a byproduct of internally divided Republican and Democratic parties, which derived from historical sectional loyalties and national divisions over race. The Civil Rights movement led to a "sorting out" of political allegiances that continues almost to this day and leads to increasing partisanship. Also polarization is enhanced by some other factor such as increased rapid travel allowing Congressmen to spend more time in their home districts, and the power of interest groups whose finances and membership increase when there is controversy. Brownstein offers copious polling data over decades of time to back up the trends he describes. In this light such events as Clinton's impeachment over his sex affairs, and the 1995 shutdown of government by Republicans withholding funds, and the 2000 election ballot count fight, were just examples of a growing national partisanship trend and much less the result of individual personalities or circumstances. Brownstein suffers from the assumption that whatever policies will produce more "bipartisan" or "consensus" political support are good for this reason alone, and spends too little time analyzing the virtues of various policies. Some of his predictions circa 2008 (e.g. that national health care could be an issue that would bridge political divides and bring bipartisan consensus) seem jejune in the light of 2010, but most of his observations still hold up. (less)

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Sep 28, 2008 Alan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Why is is so difficult for Congress or the President of the United States to get anything done? Why is it that our elected leaders cannot tackle so many of the deep and important challenges facing the nation? Journalist Ron Brownstein attempts to answer these important questions in this provocative and illuminating book.
Full disclosure: I know the author. We both covered national politics, he for the Los Angeles Times and me for Reuters in the 1996 and 2000 presidential race. We were friendly b...more Why is is so difficult for Congress or the President of the United States to get anything done? Why is it that our elected leaders cannot tackle so many of the deep and important challenges facing the nation? Journalist Ron Brownstein attempts to answer these important questions in this provocative and illuminating book.
Full disclosure: I know the author. We both covered national politics, he for the Los Angeles Times and me for Reuters in the 1996 and 2000 presidential race. We were friendly but and not personal friends, although, I deeply respect his judgment and talent.
Brownstein argues that partisan politics have become so bitter, toxic and divisive that neither party has any interest in cooperating with the other. Both parties have become beholden to their political bases which are mutually antagonistic, following widely divergent cultural values. Yet, in order to get anything done, it remains necessary to build bipartisan coalitions. It may be possible to narrowly win elections based primarily on energizing the base, as Bush did in 2004, but when important national challenges loom, a president who has not reached out to the other party invariably finds it impossible to govern on the shaky basis of such a narrow majority.
In an exhaustive historic review, Brownstein goes through previous periods of American history. The Republicans from the 1890s to the Great Depression, governed in a similar way -- and were turned out of power after 1932 for decades. In the 1940s and 1950s, both sides reached out more to the center, forming bipartisan coalitions. However, in those days both parties were much more diverse than today. There were southern Democrats who were more conservative than many Republicans and moderate Republicans more liberal than many Democrats. Was this a golden age of bipartisan cooperation? Hardly -- the southern Democrats were mainly concerned with preserving their racist, exclusionary Jim Crow society.
In analyzing our current predicament, Brownstein puts most blame on the Republicans -- Gingrich, Tom DeLay and the Bush-Karl Rove team who set out to exclude Democrats from power and to rule for the benefit of their own narrow segment of society. Democrats, in order to survive, had to respond in kind.
But history teaches that a party that governs for the benefit of the few eventually awakens the wrath of the many. The pendulum always swings -- as it is about to do again.(less)

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Mar 09, 2011 Donald rated it 2 of 5 stars

Note to author: partisanship is a good thing. It draws distinctions between political ideas and idealogies and forces people to make a choice. What's the point of having political parties if there's not any difference between them?

Anyway, this is a tediously boring book about the history of why our (American) political system is now so polarized and divided. Amid all the discussion about polls and statistics (given in underwhelming charts) is a slightly interesting look at the twentieth century...more

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Apr 24, 2008 Josh rated it 3 of 5 stars

In this book, Ronald Brownstein covers the history of how politics have operated in Washington since the McKinley administration (1896) through the present day to show how Washington has become a hyper partisan political (again, actually…our current climate is very reminiscent to the first few decades of the 20th century) machine, and offers steps that might see us through to the other side. The first 150 or so pages covering the historical context (namely the resorting of the political map, ide...more In this book, Ronald Brownstein covers the history of how politics have operated in Washington since the McKinley administration (1896) through the present day to show how Washington has become a hyper partisan political (again, actually…our current climate is very reminiscent to the first few decades of the 20th century) machine, and offers steps that might see us through to the other side. The first 150 or so pages covering the historical context (namely the resorting of the political map, ideologically and physically) are essential, but written in a rather clunky style. I found myself struggling at times with his narrative and he has the tendency to throw out a bunch of names while only offering sparse back-story. However, once we soldier through, he offers how, in our current age, politics in this country has become akin to warfare with members of congress viewing those in the other party as the enemies who must be crushed, not as merely people with genuine differences of opinion who are all working to solve the problems of the country. This strategy has seen our current presidential administration that, essentially, speaks for a faction within a political party as opposed to truly speaking for people across the broad spectrum that encompass the American landscape. Brownstein argues that this way of administering is not sustaining as is alienates too much of the populace and makes genuine advancement of policy that speaks to the majority of the county almost impossible to deliver. He offers ideas to help move forward into a "post-partisan" America but I'm not sure if we're ready to move in that direction yet. He acknowledges that folks on both the left and right have valid points to make and that the answer to many issues lie somewhere in the synthesis of those ideas; that we are offered too many false dichotomies and that by drawing from portions of both ideological sets, we can create a society that works for as many possible, but it would mean that nobody gets everything they want. Anyway, if you're looking for a book that will help look at the current state of politics and wonder how we got here and how we might get out (if you're bothered by the state of things, as am I), then pick this up. (less)

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Nov 17, 2011 Bryan Woerner rated it 5 of 5 stars

An interesting historical analysis of partasenship (and non-partisanship) in the US. It also points out how the Democratic and Republican parties have switched sides on many issues since the Civil War with Democrats becoming liberal and Republicans becoming conservative (it used to be different). I encourage all liberals and conservatives to read it.

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Jan 28, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book gives an interesting history of twentieth century presidential history in terms of shifting dynamics in the two US political parties and how this relates to the president's office term. I felt as if the current president read this as he attempts to present his presidency in terms of overcoming the partisan divide in Washington.

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Jul 03, 2012 Lonni rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-and-politics

Phenomenal by author from National Journal. Compares 1850s, 1890s to 1938, to partisanship of 94-08

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Apr 09, 2011 Ian James added it

Another book of observations from the bleachers....

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Mar 01, 2009 Paul Fidalgo rated it 4 of 5 stars

If nothing else, a really good primer on the modern history of political dealmaking, and a good diagnosis of what ails American politics today. His solutions in the last chapter are less than striking, fairly hedged and not as "bold" as he makes out, but on the whole, a worthwhile read.

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Aug 16, 2008 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars

The parts about Bush are a little redundant considering what's out there, but this history of partisanship, party alliance and political power over the last century is fascinating.

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Mar 17, 2009 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

I had to stop after about 100 pages, as I got far too bored. Partisanship bad, bipartisanship god blah blah blah (blah blah blah).

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Jan 13, 2008 Caroline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well written, more historical than I expected. Ultimately pessimistic.

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