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Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know®
The 2016 election of Donald J. Trump invoked a time for reflection about the state of American politics and its deep ideological, cultural, racial, regional, and economic divisions. But one aspect that the contemporary discussions often miss is that these fissures have been opening over several decades and are deeply rooted in the structure of American politics and society.
In Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know(R) Nolan McCarty takes readers through what scholars know and don't know about the origins, development, and implications of our rising political conflicts, delving into social, economic, and geographic determinants of polarization in the United States. While the current political climate seems to suggest that extreme views are becoming more popular, McCarty also argues that, contrary to popular belief, the 2016 election was a natural outgrowth of 40 years of polarized politics, rather than a significant break with the past. He evaluates arguments over which factors that have created this state of affairs, including gerrymandered legislative districts, partisan primary nomination systems, and our private campaign finance system. He also considers the potential of major reforms such as instating proportional representation or ranked choice voting to remedy extreme polarization. A concise overview of a complex and crucial topic in US politics, this book is for anyone wanting to understand how to repair the cracks in our system.
In Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know(R) Nolan McCarty takes readers through what scholars know and don't know about the origins, development, and implications of our rising political conflicts, delving into social, economic, and geographic determinants of polarization in the United States. While the current political climate seems to suggest that extreme views are becoming more popular, McCarty also argues that, contrary to popular belief, the 2016 election was a natural outgrowth of 40 years of polarized politics, rather than a significant break with the past. He evaluates arguments over which factors that have created this state of affairs, including gerrymandered legislative districts, partisan primary nomination systems, and our private campaign finance system. He also considers the potential of major reforms such as instating proportional representation or ranked choice voting to remedy extreme polarization. A concise overview of a complex and crucial topic in US politics, this book is for anyone wanting to understand how to repair the cracks in our system.
280 pages, Paperback
Published July 8, 2019
22 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 28, 2020
McCarty has a problem: why can't Americans vote 99% for the right leader just like in the Soviet Union? So he has come with some solutions.
February 10, 2020
EXCELLENT book!!! Political science written for a broader audience. And it's about an important topic. McCarty makes clear that a lot of the supposed fixes for polarization likely won't work.
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January 29, 20262026.01.04–2026.01.09
Contents
McCarthy NM (2019) (06:32) Polarization - What Everyone Needs to Know
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. What Is Political Polarization?
2.1. What is the difference between partisanship and polarization?
2.2. What is the difference between mass and elite polarization?
2.3. What is partisan sorting and is it different from polarization?
2.4. What is belief constraint and ideological consistency?
2.5. Who is polarized—the public or the politicians?
2.6. Why is polarization bad?
2.7. What have we learned?
3. Are Partisan Elites Polarized?
3.1. How do we measure elite polarization?
3.2. Why do you assume legislative voting occurs only on the liberal–conservative dimension?
3.3. Are there other sources of data for measuring congressional polarization?
3.4. Do roll-call ideal points really reflect congressional ideology?
3.5. What issues divide Congress the most?
3.6. Are both parties responsible for polarization?
3.7. Are state legislatures polarized?
3.8. Are the courts polarized?
3.9. And the media?
3.10. What have we learned?
4. Is the Public Polarized?
4.1. How is it even plausible that the public is not polarized?
4.2. Is the public moderate?
4.3. What is the evidence in favor of increased voter sorting?
4.4. Why does it matter whether voters are sorted but not polarized?
4.5. Is sorting a good thing or a bad thing?
4.6. What issues are the public sorted on?
4.7. Is it the economy, stupid?
4.8. Does polarization reflect a “culture war”?
4.9. What is affective polarization?
4.10. What have we learned?
5. What Are the Causes of Polarization?
5.1. Why was polarization so low from the 1930s to the 1960s?
5.2. Can the polarization of the late nineteenth century be compared to what we see today?
5.3. What is the Southern Realignment and why did it happen?
5.4. Why did southern whites move to the GOP?
5.5. Why is congressional voting on racial issues no longer distinctive?
5.6. Does economic inequality cause polarization?
5.7. Do party leaders engineer polarization?
5.8. Is the rising competition for congressional majorities to blame?
5.9. Why don’t more moderates run for Congress?
5.10. Is the media responsible for polarization?
5.11. What about the emergence of the Internet and social media?
5.12. Is the United States unique?
5.13. What have we learned?
6. How Does Electoral Law Affect Legislative Polarization?
6.1. How much does polarization reflect geographic sorting?
6.2. Does gerrymandering cause polarization?
6.3. Isn’t it possible that the effects of gerrymandering on the House carried over to the Senate?
6.4. But isn’t gerrymandering responsible for a decline in electoral competitiveness?
6.5. Are there other ways in which redistricting can impact polarization?
6.6. Do partisan primaries cause polarization?
6.7. Hasn’t California’s “Top-Two” system reduced polarization there?
6.8. What role does campaign finance play in polarization?
6.9. Would stronger parties reduce polarization?
6.10. Would a different electoral system reduce polarization?
6.11. What have we learned?
7. What Are the Consequences of Polarization for Public Policy and Governance?
7.1. Why does polarization impact congressional policymaking capacity?
7.2. How do legislative parties turn polarization into gridlock?
7.3. What about the filibuster and the presidential veto?
7.4. Does polarization make Congress less productive?
7.5. How has polarization affected the executive branch and the bureaucracy?
7.6. Has the American judiciary and legal system changed as a result of polarization?
7.7. How has polarization affected the balance of power between the national and state governments?
7.8. Has polarization affected policymaking in the states?
7.9. Has polarization increased the political power of the wealthy relative to others?
7.10. Does polarization have a conservative bias?
7.11. What have we learned?
8. Is the Trump Presidency a New Normal or More of the Same?
Appendix A: How Are Legislator Ideal Points Estimated?
A.1. What if the liberal–conservative dimension does not explain all voting?
A.2. Do members’ ideal points move over time?
A.3. Can ideal points be compared over time?
A.4. Are there other methods for measuring ideal points and polarization from roll calls?
A.5. What are the limitations of the roll-call–based measures of polarization?
Appendix B: How Do We Measure Polarization in the Public?
B.1. What is a survey?
B.2. What is a population and sample?
B.3. How do we draw inferences from surveys?
B.4. Why is random sampling important?
B.5. What happens when samples are not random?
B.6. What are some of the problems associated with the design of surveys?
B.7. What are some limitations of using surveys to measure polarization?
B.8. What is a survey experiment?
B.9. What are survey scales?
B.10. What is a thermometer rating?
B.11. What is party identification?
B.12. What is an independent?
B.13. What is ideological self-placement?
B.14. Can we estimate ideal points of voters?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Contents
McCarthy NM (2019) (06:32) Polarization - What Everyone Needs to Know
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. What Is Political Polarization?
2.1. What is the difference between partisanship and polarization?
2.2. What is the difference between mass and elite polarization?
2.3. What is partisan sorting and is it different from polarization?
2.4. What is belief constraint and ideological consistency?
2.5. Who is polarized—the public or the politicians?
2.6. Why is polarization bad?
2.7. What have we learned?
3. Are Partisan Elites Polarized?
3.1. How do we measure elite polarization?
3.2. Why do you assume legislative voting occurs only on the liberal–conservative dimension?
3.3. Are there other sources of data for measuring congressional polarization?
3.4. Do roll-call ideal points really reflect congressional ideology?
3.5. What issues divide Congress the most?
3.6. Are both parties responsible for polarization?
3.7. Are state legislatures polarized?
3.8. Are the courts polarized?
3.9. And the media?
3.10. What have we learned?
4. Is the Public Polarized?
4.1. How is it even plausible that the public is not polarized?
4.2. Is the public moderate?
4.3. What is the evidence in favor of increased voter sorting?
4.4. Why does it matter whether voters are sorted but not polarized?
4.5. Is sorting a good thing or a bad thing?
4.6. What issues are the public sorted on?
4.7. Is it the economy, stupid?
4.8. Does polarization reflect a “culture war”?
4.9. What is affective polarization?
4.10. What have we learned?
5. What Are the Causes of Polarization?
5.1. Why was polarization so low from the 1930s to the 1960s?
5.2. Can the polarization of the late nineteenth century be compared to what we see today?
5.3. What is the Southern Realignment and why did it happen?
5.4. Why did southern whites move to the GOP?
5.5. Why is congressional voting on racial issues no longer distinctive?
5.6. Does economic inequality cause polarization?
5.7. Do party leaders engineer polarization?
5.8. Is the rising competition for congressional majorities to blame?
5.9. Why don’t more moderates run for Congress?
5.10. Is the media responsible for polarization?
5.11. What about the emergence of the Internet and social media?
5.12. Is the United States unique?
5.13. What have we learned?
6. How Does Electoral Law Affect Legislative Polarization?
6.1. How much does polarization reflect geographic sorting?
6.2. Does gerrymandering cause polarization?
6.3. Isn’t it possible that the effects of gerrymandering on the House carried over to the Senate?
6.4. But isn’t gerrymandering responsible for a decline in electoral competitiveness?
6.5. Are there other ways in which redistricting can impact polarization?
6.6. Do partisan primaries cause polarization?
6.7. Hasn’t California’s “Top-Two” system reduced polarization there?
6.8. What role does campaign finance play in polarization?
6.9. Would stronger parties reduce polarization?
6.10. Would a different electoral system reduce polarization?
6.11. What have we learned?
7. What Are the Consequences of Polarization for Public Policy and Governance?
7.1. Why does polarization impact congressional policymaking capacity?
7.2. How do legislative parties turn polarization into gridlock?
7.3. What about the filibuster and the presidential veto?
7.4. Does polarization make Congress less productive?
7.5. How has polarization affected the executive branch and the bureaucracy?
7.6. Has the American judiciary and legal system changed as a result of polarization?
7.7. How has polarization affected the balance of power between the national and state governments?
7.8. Has polarization affected policymaking in the states?
7.9. Has polarization increased the political power of the wealthy relative to others?
7.10. Does polarization have a conservative bias?
7.11. What have we learned?
8. Is the Trump Presidency a New Normal or More of the Same?
Appendix A: How Are Legislator Ideal Points Estimated?
A.1. What if the liberal–conservative dimension does not explain all voting?
A.2. Do members’ ideal points move over time?
A.3. Can ideal points be compared over time?
A.4. Are there other methods for measuring ideal points and polarization from roll calls?
A.5. What are the limitations of the roll-call–based measures of polarization?
Appendix B: How Do We Measure Polarization in the Public?
B.1. What is a survey?
B.2. What is a population and sample?
B.3. How do we draw inferences from surveys?
B.4. Why is random sampling important?
B.5. What happens when samples are not random?
B.6. What are some of the problems associated with the design of surveys?
B.7. What are some limitations of using surveys to measure polarization?
B.8. What is a survey experiment?
B.9. What are survey scales?
B.10. What is a thermometer rating?
B.11. What is party identification?
B.12. What is an independent?
B.13. What is ideological self-placement?
B.14. Can we estimate ideal points of voters?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
August 3, 2024
Overall, this book is chock-full of good content, but it's a bit dry, and the concluding chapter--though it is, in my opinion, spot-on--lacks the rigor of the rest of the book, which ironically makes the most readable part of the book feel disconnected from the core of its scholarly arguments.
January 17, 2025
I am very encouraged about the facts this book reveals. It is very heavily statistical and looks at the idea from many angles.
July 25, 2019
*** Possible spoilers ***
This book was well written and very well researched. The author accomplished what he set out to do.
For that reason I've awarded this 5 stars.
That said, the book was not altogether satisfying. The author backed up his assertions with statistical evidence; however, there are only so many statistics available and this book left me with more questions than answers. In addition, while passing reference was made to Canada, the author dealt primarily with the political system in the United States.
There were a number of surprises a few of which I found questionable. While considerable polarization and partisanship was observed in elected politicians, not nearly as much was found in the general public. To a large extent this was attributed to political disinterest. If people couldn't care less about politics, it's suggested they aren't polarized. I would treat that with suspicion. However, I'm not the one running the numbers.
Another thing I found a bit frustrating was the author's focus on trends. He spends a great deal of time and effort proving that polarization forms a 'U' curve peaking in the late 1800s, dipping to a low mid century and then rising to the present. Therefore if more people are polarized now than in the past he argues that polarization is increasing, but this fails to take into account the degree. Let's suppose that on some issue, x% of the population is supportive and y% is opposed and lets suppose both x and y are large. This indicates polarization on that issue. Unfortunately it doesn't entirely take into account the degree of polarization. So lets suppose that both x and y are small, but boy, do those groups hate one another - for example White Nationalists vs Antifa. There is no good way statistically of quantifying the hatred they have for one another, yet I think it's important, first because it frequently results in violence and second because the resulting media exposure drives up polarization in the rest of the public. This book didn't, and probably couldn't, cover that sort of thing.
In general I think it's worth reading this one but don't expect all your questions to be answered and in particular, don't expect to learn whether the USA is drifting inexorably down a path that will eventually lead to another civil war. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. You won't find the answer here.
This book was well written and very well researched. The author accomplished what he set out to do.
For that reason I've awarded this 5 stars.
That said, the book was not altogether satisfying. The author backed up his assertions with statistical evidence; however, there are only so many statistics available and this book left me with more questions than answers. In addition, while passing reference was made to Canada, the author dealt primarily with the political system in the United States.
There were a number of surprises a few of which I found questionable. While considerable polarization and partisanship was observed in elected politicians, not nearly as much was found in the general public. To a large extent this was attributed to political disinterest. If people couldn't care less about politics, it's suggested they aren't polarized. I would treat that with suspicion. However, I'm not the one running the numbers.
Another thing I found a bit frustrating was the author's focus on trends. He spends a great deal of time and effort proving that polarization forms a 'U' curve peaking in the late 1800s, dipping to a low mid century and then rising to the present. Therefore if more people are polarized now than in the past he argues that polarization is increasing, but this fails to take into account the degree. Let's suppose that on some issue, x% of the population is supportive and y% is opposed and lets suppose both x and y are large. This indicates polarization on that issue. Unfortunately it doesn't entirely take into account the degree of polarization. So lets suppose that both x and y are small, but boy, do those groups hate one another - for example White Nationalists vs Antifa. There is no good way statistically of quantifying the hatred they have for one another, yet I think it's important, first because it frequently results in violence and second because the resulting media exposure drives up polarization in the rest of the public. This book didn't, and probably couldn't, cover that sort of thing.
In general I think it's worth reading this one but don't expect all your questions to be answered and in particular, don't expect to learn whether the USA is drifting inexorably down a path that will eventually lead to another civil war. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. You won't find the answer here.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews