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Why We're Polarized

Ezra Klein

4.27 · Rating details · 5,538 ratings · 786 reviews

Discover how American politics became a toxic system, why we participate in it, and what it means for our future—from journalist, political commentator, and cofounder of Vox, Ezra Klein.

After Election Day 2016, both supporters and opponents of the soon-to-be president hailed his victory as a historically unprecedented event. Most Americans could agree that no candidate li ...more

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Published January 28th 2020 by Simon Schuster Audio

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Feb 07, 2020 Michael rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020

Why We’re Polarized sets out to succinctly break down why American politics has become so dysfunctional over the past forty years. The book begins by offering an oversimplified account of the fall of the New Deal coalition in the 1960s, then pivots to arguing that the subsequent party realignment along geographic and racial lines can largely be explained by the psychology of tribalism and white anxiety about America’s shifting demographics. Klein writes snappy prose that’s easy to read, and for ...more

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Dec 04, 2019 David Wineberg rated it it was amazing

Politics uses us for its own ends

There are endless shelves of books on what has happened to politics in the USA, culminating in the rule of Trump. Most of them hit on polarization sooner or later. Ezra Klein’s book totally focuses on it, but in ways that are more engaging, relatable and relevant than many others I have read. It is thorough, fair, reflective, cautious and accurate. And therefore depressing.

Why We’re Polarized has an overall umbrella theory: Politics uses us for its own ends. We ...more

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Dec 28, 2019 Raymond rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My review is also published on Medium: https://medium.com/ballasts-for-the-m...

I've been waiting for this book ever since Ezra Klein first mentioned he was working on it during one of his podcast episodes. As the title explains, Klein's book tells the story of how and why the United States is currently a polarized nation. Klein defines polarization as the phenomenon when the opinions of the public change which results in them splitting and gathering around two ideological poles leaving no true m My review is also published on Medium: https://medium.com/ballasts-for-the-m...

I've been waiting for this book ever since Ezra Klein first mentioned he was working on it during one of his podcast episodes. As the title explains, Klein's book tells the story of how and why the United States is currently a polarized nation. Klein defines polarization as the phenomenon when the opinions of the public change which results in them splitting and gathering around two ideological poles leaving no true moderates in the country.

Klein addresses how did the US transition from a depolarized mid 20th Century to a polarized 21st Century. One of the biggest reasons has to do with the issue of race and how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 brought about a realignment between the Democrats and Republicans.

I love that Klein makes it clear from the beginning that this is a book about how systems cause polarization rather than people. He shows this by referencing high quality research across different fields of study (political science, psychology, sociology, and history). One of the fascinating studies that he mentions in the book to explain how bad polarization has become dealt with college scholarships. The study found committee members were less likely to vote to give a scholarship to a student if they were of a different political party than the committee member.

Klein also effectively shows how policy issues such as the individual mandate for health insurance, cap and trade, and Russian aggression have become polarizing. Using history he shows that the political party that once supported these issues came out in opposition once the opposing political party came out in favor of the policy.

Klein concludes his book advocating for reforms not to end polarization but to help the country adapt to it. I have heard of many of the solutions that he proposes such as eliminating the filibuster and the Electoral College and adding more justices to the Supreme Court. I found the proposals that were new to me to be interesting such as automatic economic stabilizers and multi member congressional districts in conjunction with ranked choice voting.

Ultimately, Klein's book should be read by all concerned citizens and policy makers who are interested in reading a non-academic book on the roots of polarization and are interested in creating systems within the government to lessen the negative effects of polarization.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for the free ARC copy in exchange for a honest review. ...more

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Feb 04, 2020 Mehrsa rated it it was amazing

I really like Ezra Klein--he's a really smart and generous guy. This book is calm and it's insightful and it really points to some of the troubling polarizations of our era. And in explaining them, he doesn't point fingers and the obvious culprits, but roots his analysis in human nature and large structural changes to political parties and elections.

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Mar 25, 2020 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, social-science, nonfiction, psychology, america

Ezra Klein does pick a side, but his great gift is disengagement to the extent we can see how ordinary Americans got to where they are ideologically. It is not enough to point to our sources of news and draw conclusions from that, though that is clearly a factor. He points to the way political and non-political people experience politics: the least engaged voters tend to look at politics through the lens of material self-interest (What will this policy do for me?) while the most engaged look at Ezra Klein does pick a side, but his great gift is disengagement to the extent we can see how ordinary Americans got to where they are ideologically. It is not enough to point to our sources of news and draw conclusions from that, though that is clearly a factor. He points to the way political and non-political people experience politics: the least engaged voters tend to look at politics through the lens of material self-interest (What will this policy do for me?) while the most engaged look at politics through the lens of identity (What does support for this policy say about me?).

It is the discussion about identity politics which really moves our understanding of his thesis and makes it relevant to my understanding of what is happening in Pennsylvania, where I live. I am a volunteer with a group determined to end partisan gerrymandering. Almost no one—no one I’ve met—supports partisan gerrymandering, even legislators. It is a perversion of the democratic process and in the words of SCOTUS Chief Roberts, “excessive partisanship in districting leads to results that reasonably seem unjust.” I’d thought it was the root of our discord, but Klein shows me it is just another symptom.

But I did learn something about how opponents of our nonpartisan attempt to end gerrymandering have countered our language: they have increasingly relied on attempts to polarize by painting our team as an offshoot of the Democratic party. Even though most voters (of both parties), most township officials, most legislators oppose partisan gerrymandering, when legislative leaders, in this case Republican, claim we are Democrats-in-disguise, the out-group mentality takes over autonomous decision-making in downstream party members. They can’t not oppose us.

A fascinating study Klein cites is one by Shanto Iyengar of Stanford University’s Political Communication Laboratory in collaboration with Dartmouth College political scientist Sean Westwood. When two people competing for a scholarship at a university added political affiliation on their resume, that political affiliation trumped all other criterion, including test scores, GPA, even race. Why?

Iyengar’s hypothesis is that partisan animosity is one of the few forms of discrimination contemporary American society not only permits but actively encourages…”The old theory was political parties came into existence to represent deep social cleavages. But now party politics has taken on a life of its own—now it is the cleavage,” says Iyengar.

Another example of how political affiliations structure how we think about problems is a question that could be used on a standardized science comprehension test but with a politicized theme. Even those good at math got this question wrong when the answer predicted an outcome that clashed with their political views. Partisans with strong math skills were 45 percentage points likelier to solve the problem correctly when the answer fit their ideology. “The smarter a person is, the dumber politics can make them.” If we needed any convincing…

Jonathan Haidt, professor of psychology at New York University, says the role that an individual’s reason plays in political arguments is a little like being White House Press Secretary: there is no way they can influence policy, so they merely find ways to justify that policy to listeners. This is why, Haidt argues, “once group loyalties are engaged, you can’t change people’s minds by utterly refuting their arguments.”

These discussions presume a level of political engagement. What about among people truly uninterested in politics? They have access to more information—of all kinds—than ever before but are not necessarily more informed politically. “Political media is for the politically invested,” which leads to further polarization in our thinking about the out-group, even the motives of our own in-group.

Political consultants have noted the shift since the early 2000s from trying to convince independents or swing voters to mobilizing one’s base, further evidence of the strength of in-group out-group polarization. Klein cites a drop in ‘true independents’ who don’t know who they will vote for but doesn’t mention the numbers leaving the parties. Since 2006, according to the Pew Research Center, political affiliation among Democrats has stagnated at 32% of the electorate while, it should surprise no one, those identifying as Republican have fallen to 23%. What is heartening to me is how many are leaving either party, refusing to buy into black-and-white dichotomies the parties dish out.

“Parties are weak while partisanship is strong,” is an insight garnered from Marquette University political scientist Julia Azari. Partly this is allowing an intense slice of the electorate to choose the party candidate in primaries and partly it is campaign finance. Small donors, it turns out, can be polarizing. Klein cites Michael Barber’s study of which states limit PAC contributions: in states where the rules push toward individual donations, the candidates are more polarized. Where the rules open the floodgates to PAC money, the candidates are more moderate.

I wasn’t expecting this outcome, but thinking about it, it makes sense, if only it weren’t contradicted by Pennsylvania’s case. There are practically no restrictions on campaign financing and a fiercely partisan Republican team has a stranglehold over which legislation moves in the state which appears to follow in lockstep with national, perhaps a little like Wisconsin politics. The animosity seen there is simply not local. Everyone seems to have a larger agenda or is playing on a larger stage, not taking into account objective facts on the ground. What is happening here? Is this the insurgent wing of the Republican party, the Tea Party?

Klein saves his pyrotechnics for the end, insights coming fast and hard in the second half. The weaknesses in local or state parties is partially due to the nationalization of party politics, easily seen in PA for those able kick back and enjoy viewing the bloodsport of this election. “Three-quarters of Republicans identify as conservative, while only half of Democrats call themselves liberals—and for Democrats, that’s a historic high point. Self-identified moderates outnumbered liberals in the Democratic Party until 2008.”

But that ‘conservatism’ of the Republican Party is not an ideology so much as an identity. I’m with him on that. ...more

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Dec 25, 2019 Dee Arr rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: politics

What began as a mostly balanced examination of why Americans are polarized transformed into multiple attacks on everything on the Right. It was almost as if two books had been written.

In the first half, author Ezra Klein seemed to try hard to be fair in his analysis, although from time to time he did inject his own political views. I concentrated on considering if the information Mr. Klein presented made sense, allowing his examples to strengthen his point that as our identities (everything we a What began as a mostly balanced examination of why Americans are polarized transformed into multiple attacks on everything on the Right. It was almost as if two books had been written.

In the first half, author Ezra Klein seemed to try hard to be fair in his analysis, although from time to time he did inject his own political views. I concentrated on considering if the information Mr. Klein presented made sense, allowing his examples to strengthen his point that as our identities (everything we are that is primarily considered non-political) activate under one umbrella (our political identity), they become stronger. In his own words, “Our political identities have become political mega-identities.” Further into the book, Mr. Klein makes the point even clearer when referring to his own opinions: “I can’t tell you that’s not just my motivated reasoning in action.” But the main thrust of the first half of the book is not to point at each of us and show us how we each rationalize to support our beliefs. The question is what this behavior means and how it affects all of us.

The author traces the initial split - over half a century ago - to a time when conservatives and liberals were part of both major parties. The lines are more clearly drawn today, and I can’t remember recently seeing anyone identified as a liberal Republican or a conservative Democrat. The author presents a multitude of facts, surveys, and tests that support what happened politically in America and why we are more divided than ever. If I would have been highlighting old school in a book rather than on my Kindle, I would have gone through several highlighters.

Like many of you, I realized long ago that it is easy and comfortable for all of us to support our own personal views if we only seek them out from those who think the same way we do. For years, I have done my best to read and listen to opposing views, although I can’t say that my own motivated reasoning doesn’t get in the way from time to time. It certainly did for Mr. Klein, who speaks at length about polarization and motivated reasoning yet by the middle of the book used Republicans and conservatives as cannon fodder. Almost every example featured a negative look at Republicans without a matching balance aimed at the Democrats.

Thus, he presents the strongest argument for his premise through personal example. In turn, those who disagree with him may take exception to his comments, thus strengthening the polarization he speaks about. It’s too bad he didn’t take a step back and remove his personal filters, rather than spend the second half of the book echoing the political comments found in pro-Democrat news outlets. While Mr. Klein’s description of why America is so split at this time is spot on, his unnecessary backhand comments and distorted “facts” in the second half of the book do not match his definition of mindfulness in the last chapter, and caused me to rethink the five-star rating I was prepared to give after reading the first half of the book.

I still recommend this book for everyone, no matter where you see yourself on the political spectrum. Knowing why we are so polarized may provide new thoughts for all of us, perhaps offering a path toward working together rather than tearing each other down. Three stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for an advance complimentary electronic copy of this book.
...more

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Feb 01, 2020 Jason Furman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, journalism, politics

The mere existence of Ezra Klein’s outstanding and compulsively readable account of the rise and consequences of polarization is a paradox. Klein creatively synthesizes a wide range of social science literature, mostly from political science and social psychology, combing it with his own extensive first hand observation of American politics in a book that is sympathetic to a wide range of perspectives without suffering from the traps of naked partisanship on the one hand or false equivalences on The mere existence of Ezra Klein’s outstanding and compulsively readable account of the rise and consequences of polarization is a paradox. Klein creatively synthesizes a wide range of social science literature, mostly from political science and social psychology, combing it with his own extensive first hand observation of American politics in a book that is sympathetic to a wide range of perspectives without suffering from the traps of naked partisanship on the one hand or false equivalences on the other.

Klein is clear that our polarization problem does not stem from too little information or too little exposure to the perspective of the other side. In fact he cites a set of social psychology experiments that show that people are more rationalizes than reasoners, that smarter and more informed people turn their intelligence and information into more grist for their previous views, and that exposing people to opposing perspectives turns them off to them and strengthens their own views.

And that is why the mere existence of this book is a paradox. It reasons instead of rationalizing. It aims to persuade rather than mobilize. And Klein exposes himself and the reader to the other side of just about everything, including a relatively sympathetic account of everything form how whites feel their historic privileges threatened to Mitch McConnell’s decision to block Merrick Garland. It is almost like the very act of writing this book is a rejection of its thesis, or at least a loud protest against it—both explicitly and in form.

Many people will likely come to this book after reading the New York Times oped version. I liked the oped, but one thing I appreciated about the book is that, unlike the oped, it spent the first ~85% on the topic of polarization without talking much if at all about the different ways that it has affected Democrats and Republicans. I think this is intellectually honest and (perhaps a foolish hope) may bring along a wider set of readers. This presentational choice also makes the last part of the book that shows how the Republican Party has become more of an “insurgent outlier” that is captive to something more like one group and one set of highly partisan media, that much more compelling.

There wasn’t much in the book I disagreed with. My main complaint is that I wanted more. Klein calls for more democratization but does not discuss his view on whether that might conflict with protections for minorities and if so how it should be handled. He does not talk about the right way to balance democratic and technocratic control. And the relationship between polarization and the delegitimization of elites is largely missing from his account.

Finally, to expand something I said in the opening paragraph, I think Klein is a model for how to use social science. Too many political reporters ignore it entirely. Or if they like data analytics, think they can figure it out on their own. Ezra reads widely, books and articles. He talks to the authors. And he takes it seriously. But he also does something the social scientists cannot do: he has talked extensively to many of the leading political players over the last decade. Not everyone could pull it off as well as he does, but I certainly wish more people tried and even got half of the way there, it would be an improvement on a lot of the gut instincts of many of the people opining today. ...more

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Feb 21, 2020 Linda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: american-history-culture-politics, nonfiction, social-science

I have read many books that attempt to explain the current nightmare of American politics.
Klein's book is one of the best. It is well researched and accessible. He provides a clear comprehensive
historical analysis of the shift from bi-partisan to polarized partisan politics. He also examines numerous studies of group think and identity sorting which he believes underlie this behavior. He examines the fear underpinning the" Trump phenomena" and the undemocratic practices of the Republican party.

H ...more

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Jan 31, 2020 Radiantflux rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, trump, politics, usa

12th book for 2020.

Ezra Klein's new book offers a fascinating deep dive into the reasons for America's increasingly polarized political discourse.

According to Klein, polarization in American politics is hardly new and in-and-of-itself not something that should necessarily be lamented. Klein posits that the start of polarization was the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which essentially ceded the American South to the Republican Party. Prior to this there was relatively little to distinguis 12th book for 2020.

Ezra Klein's new book offers a fascinating deep dive into the reasons for America's increasingly polarized political discourse.

According to Klein, polarization in American politics is hardly new and in-and-of-itself not something that should necessarily be lamented. Klein posits that the start of polarization was the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which essentially ceded the American South to the Republican Party. Prior to this there was relatively little to distinguish the two main political parties in America—evidenced by the fact that approximately half the voting population voted for one party at a federal level and the other a state level—this statistic has now flipped with 97% of voters consistently voting for a single party at both state and federal levels (in another statistic Klein shows how even independent voters vote now like partisan voters of yesteryear).

As the party's identities have continued to coalesce around a core set of values, party allegiance has become literally a form of identity politics. This has been exacerbated by both our primate brains seeing all things in the world through a tribal filter, and by the increasing fragmentation of our media landscape. However, as Klein rightly points out this polarization has not affected the two parties equally. Whereas demographic forces force the Democratic Party to remain something of a broad church, the Republican Party has increasingly contracted into upon a much narrower base, which reflects its increasing extreme positions race and immigration.

Klein ends this analysis by examining how US political structures—especially the division of power between Congress, the Senate and the Presidency, something unique to functioning Western democracies—may actually lead to greater polarization and gridlock. Klein chilling points out that the US Presidential system has ultimately failed in every other country that has tried to enact it.

What this book shows clearly is that Trump and the current Republican Party are not the aberration that they are often portrayed as, but are a natural outcome of increasingly tribalized politics over the last fifty years. How this situation can be fixed is left as an exercise to readers.

4-stars. ...more

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Feb 04, 2020 Peter (Pete) Mcloughlin rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1890-1959, law, 1990-to-2019, 2020-to-present, modernism, politics, psychology, religion-or-not, 00002both, 1960-to-1989

Ezra Klein surveys quite a bit of political science and political psychology literature to explain the partisan polarization of the past fifty years. The key is identity not identity in terms of specific marginal groups that is the usual focus but identity, in general, it's an integral part of every person's psychology and how it relates to partisan politics. You see people are social animals meant to work together and intensely identify with a group that we share things in common. Markers of i Ezra Klein surveys quite a bit of political science and political psychology literature to explain the partisan polarization of the past fifty years. The key is identity not identity in terms of specific marginal groups that is the usual focus but identity, in general, it's an integral part of every person's psychology and how it relates to partisan politics. You see people are social animals meant to work together and intensely identify with a group that we share things in common. Markers of identity can be anything like race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion but identity can be tied to almost any aspect of our lives, where we live, our hobbies, our interests, occupation, music tastes and even sports teams in fact on the last one sports team identification has lead people to riot with body counts and all. One form of identification that has a dangerous salience is party and ideological identification.
this is mostly natural but in the past ideology and party was not linked back in the day there was a lot of overlap ideologically between parties when it was common for there to be liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats. After the Democrats passed the civil rights bill conservative southern democrats joined the Republicans and liberal Republicans were jettisoned from the party. So now we have a situation where party and ideology are linked and Democrats and Republican partisanship became a lot more salient. Other factors linked to temperament linked ideology to a whole other host of identities and clustered into two mega identities around party.
this seems to happen in all western countries but our system of government was designed by the founders who hated faction and unfortunately the way they designed our system is such that it can't handle strong partisan faction well and is now after a long lucky run is starting to be beset by partisan gridlock and dysfunction. Klien covers a lot of ground and he is a liberal and I am more to the left than him so I don't agree with everything but his analysis is right in many parts.

...more

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Feb 12, 2020 Andrew Garvin rated it liked it · review of another edition

In high school, a friend of mine (now a rabble-rousing scholar and critic) and I had a bright idea: Let’s watch the O’Reilly Factor for a month. Let’s understand what the other side is hearing. This was post-9/11 in the run-up to the Iraq War. We were galvanized.

I had to stop. It was melting my mind. None of O’Reilly’s arguments are smart or genuine. It’s all facile, motivated reasoning. I found myself taking for granted the underlying facts of his positions, only to often discover they were mad In high school, a friend of mine (now a rabble-rousing scholar and critic) and I had a bright idea: Let’s watch the O’Reilly Factor for a month. Let’s understand what the other side is hearing. This was post-9/11 in the run-up to the Iraq War. We were galvanized.

I had to stop. It was melting my mind. None of O’Reilly’s arguments are smart or genuine. It’s all facile, motivated reasoning. I found myself taking for granted the underlying facts of his positions, only to often discover they were made up.

My media diet evolved in college and I found Ezra Klein and Matt Yglesias - they are my age. The whole ethos to explain the news appealed to my technocratic mind. So, I have followed the full evolution of Klein’s thinking and I also have my own perspective on why we’re polarized.

Klein’s thesis is that demographic change in the electorate and the nationalization of media has sorted the parties and has given more power and meaning to Republican and Democrat as identities. Where he explains the role of media in polarization, he has a strong footing. Where he does a lit review of academia’s take on sorting, polarization, political science, and demographics, he has less insight.

The book is missing a thorough discussion of the incentives in the American political contract. And, how those incentives differ from less polarized countries. (Or, is every country becoming polarized?) Yes, the media is more national now, but that’s not a unique feature of the US, so why does it seem to be getting so much worse here? (Or is it?)

The incentive to focus on small, like-states for Senate/Electoral College reasons has been there for a century at least. Gerrymandering was always a lever, just recently abused.

Two theories for ‘why now? why us?’:

1. Demographic change, as Klein discusses. (Although, look at Canada.)
2. The growing power of the federal government, which Klein misses. There is a greater and growing incentive to take control of the federal government and less of a reason to focus on local issues. The Senate/Electoral College once preserved decentralization, but with centralization winning (perhaps inevitably) those systems now incentivize anti-democratic activity.

The prior norms and gentility of American politics was endogenous to the founding structure. Polarization (like the media itself) is a tool to transform norms to respond to the shifting incentives and that’s why it has been adopted.

Of course, as with any system change, there is a time lag to innovation. It’s going to get worse. ...more

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May 30, 2020 Debbie Notkin rated it it was amazing

I can't remember a political book that has made me think this deeply, or reframe my own perceptions this much. I am only a casual fan of Klein's work, but a friend who is a more committed fan points me to him frequently. I heard Jill Lepore interview him on his own podcast about the book, and I thought it was interesting (I am more than a casual Jill Lepore fan).

Reading the book has been much more powerful for me than hearing him talk about it. Basically, Klein has done the really hard work of ...more

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Jan 20, 2020 Whitney rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: democracy-autocracy

Finished this book a week ago and am still thinking about the convincing case it makes. I don't agree with Ezra Klein on everything, but I agreed with his conclusions – and appreciated his thoughtful, meticulous approach to answering the titular question. The rationale behind the current state of the Republican Party, and the scale of the challenge facing Democrats, are thoroughly clarified here. In Klein's words: "If we can't reverse polarization, as I suspect, then the path forward is clear: w ...more

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Jan 31, 2020 Miles rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ezra Klein is one of the best political analysts of my generation, and is quickly becoming one of our most important public intellectuals. The Ezra Klein Show produces top-quality audio content several times a week, and Klein’s keen interviewing skills, nuanced articulations of complex problems, and commitment to structural analysis are second to none. I’ve been anticipating the release of Why We’re Polarized for many months, and I’m pleased to report that it constitutes a vital contribution to ...more

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Jun 18, 2020 Diz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, current-events

This is an insightful look into the state of American politics these days. Klein points out that the political parties contained a wider diversity of liberal and conservative members in the past, which encouraged politicians to be more flexible and more willing to work with those in the other party. Since the 90s, the parties have become more polarized, which leads to more conflict between the parties. In this book, Klein points out how this polarization is pushing the American political system ...more

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Feb 05, 2020 Sheri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: race, poverty-class-issues, nonfiction

So I decided last March that I was going to go back to grad school (after having been out since 2005). When I met with my former adviser and asked for tips on who/what/where I should be paying attention as I started to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, she suggested three podcasts. One of which is Ezra Klein show. I have listened to the majority of his shows since April and have read books by several of his guests in the past 10 months. I really like Klein's view point in general and So I decided last March that I was going to go back to grad school (after having been out since 2005). When I met with my former adviser and asked for tips on who/what/where I should be paying attention as I started to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, she suggested three podcasts. One of which is Ezra Klein show. I have listened to the majority of his shows since April and have read books by several of his guests in the past 10 months. I really like Klein's view point in general and tend to agree with his politics, so I was excited to grab his book when it came out.

First, I should put out there that I am not a political junkie. I used to be a sociologist with a focus on social psychology (MS and almost PhD) and am currently in a MSW program. I am interested in politics and in policy, but I tend not be enamored with the minutia of political theory. And Klein write about politics, but the majority of his argument is focused on identity and the ways in which both the American political structure and the media have created feedback loops with modern Americans that further polarize all of it (individuals, politics, and the media).

That said, he does provide a great historical look at the parties and the ways they have changed (become less strong while simultaneously more polarized within themselves) over the years. He also does a very good job of specifying the context in which our identities become activated and the ways in which they can affect our behavior.

I like all the social psychological research and references, but I was floored that Klein left out social effervescence. Going back to Durkheim, there is theory and data about the emotive reaction we have in large groups. Klein goes to great length to try to create a sports analogy (even while being careful to acknowledge his own lack of sports-feelings), but neglects to consider that being in a large crowd of people all cheering for the same thing (whether it is during a religious, political, sports, or pop-singer event) creates a warm and pleasant feeling. This is a HUGE contribution to the group effects that he goes to great length to discuss.

As always with these kinds of books, there is a lot of repetition (in part because an author is making their point over and over and in part because they want to appeal to larger audiences), but I found the feedback loop (as we are more polarized, the parties become more polarized to appeal to the voters and the ratings-fueled media focuses on conflict and further polarization which creates more individual polarizing which...) to be over emphasized.

I also wanted to agree with other reviewers' criticisms that Klien's political values show through. They absolutely do. In the beginning when he is mostly focused on history he manages to appear less partisan. However, by the end of the book, he has reached the point of Democrats are "inoculated by diversity" (which I think is correct), but then goes on to essentially explain how and why Republicans have no rational choice incentive to stop manipulating the system to hold on to power. This is all true and certainly relates to his identity argument (which also hinders on the idea that the American system is not currently broken, it is just working towards extremes), but reads as a huge slap at the Republican party. I get why those who tend to vote Republican might be upset and write off his proposals for change. After all, why shouldn't they do whatever they can to hold on to power?

Finally, I like a lot of his suggestions for change. He suggest that we need to remove some long term fiscal planning from yearly Congress votes using automatic economic stabilizers and eliminating the debt ceiling, eliminate the electoral college, change representation in the House such that ranked-choice voting is used rather than "winner take all" in small districts, add seats in the Senate for DC and Puerto Rico, eliminate the filibuster, and overhaul the gerrymandering and voter restriction that makes so many people's votes not count. I would add to this the re-enfranchisement of formerly incarcerated folks (and elimination of "poll taxes" that link to court fees) as well as re-districting so populations of jails do not count towards representation in areas where the jails are held. Those folks should either not count (since they can't vote) or be counted in their previous residence (because that is where they will go back to living when they are released).

Overall, it is a very approachable book; I didn't feel like I learned a lot, but I was entertained throughout and I think that the book is read-able for the "average job" and not geared towards political junkies or academics. ...more

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Jul 30, 2020 Ryan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In “The Chase,” an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard is given a sculpture. At first glance, the sculpture is just a person, but it can be opened and within the person are many small people who represent the different voices that make up an individual. I love that, and I think it’s true.

In Why We’re Polarized, Klein adopts a similar theory about identity, namely that we each have a bunch of them. Klein, for example, is a father, a Californian, a vegan, a journalist, etc. H In “The Chase,” an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard is given a sculpture. At first glance, the sculpture is just a person, but it can be opened and within the person are many small people who represent the different voices that make up an individual. I love that, and I think it’s true.

In Why We’re Polarized, Klein adopts a similar theory about identity, namely that we each have a bunch of them. Klein, for example, is a father, a Californian, a vegan, a journalist, etc. How does this relate to polarization? Klein argues that our identities can help us to form groups. Because our identities are beginning to stack on top of each other, there are fewer politically neutral identities and also fewer group identities. Second, our identities are activated by threat. If you put that all together, it means that almost everything is activating our identities and group responses. Sadly, we're almost never as rational as we'd like to think, so it seems like we're in a tricky moment.

Some people will tell me they mostly don't have political identities, often arguing that they are uniquely independent, uniquely rational, or both. I'm skeptical of that position, so here is one way of understanding Klein's point. In an interview with Malcolm Gladwell, Klein points out that people will identify as vegans but not as omnivores because the former is more often spoken of with disdain. The omnivore identity mostly goes unrecognized. If I go to a dinner attended only by strict vegetarians here in the Pacific Northwest, I'll suddenly realize I'm different from the group. In that moment, I'll realize I grew up on a small town farm on the prairies. I never once attended a dinner hosted by vegetarians. I never once thought of myself in a deep way as person from a small town on the prairies, even though that is undeniably who I was and who I am.

Klein points to broad demographic changes, such as the “browning of America,” to show that many Americans (a phrase which here often means white Americans) feel threatened by this shift. Consequently, they feel identities within them being activated that used to go unrecognized (e.g. omnivore). Sometimes, changing dynamics are pretty easy to discuss. Klein points to an academic building that has only one washroom for women. No one saw that as a problem until more women became academics and pointed out that it was not such a great system for them. Unfortunately, people aren’t great at thinking about their identities in this contextualized way, perhaps because it’s new to them and therefore uncomfortable, or perhaps for less admirable reasons. Regardless, it does seem to be happening.

Why We're Polarized can be read as a "what happened" book. Because Klein has interviewed so many people for his admirable and engaging Ezra Klein Show podcast, his book often reads as the culmination of four years of reflection. Although I suppose I'd rank Why We're Polarized one of the best "what happened" books I've read, it's in part because it was published in 2020 and has benefited from other scholarship. It's a useful synthesis, and even those who have read many of these books will still find some new content in the second half of Why We’re Polarized. Klein analyzes, persuasively imho, many structures within American culture that act as positive feedback loops: the more polarized the population becomes, the more polarized the media, political campaigns, daily governance, etc. become. The more that polarization happens within those systems, the more it triggers identity polarization within individuals. We think too rarely about runaway effects and positive feedback loops, though it's also true that we too rarely consider backlash and mitigating efforts.

Ultimately, I'm not an American and I was most interested in Klein's analysis of groups and identity. I found his analysis often insightful. I'm not sure that there are any easy fixes to this polarizing dynamic on the individual level. But if I can be forgiven for throwing in my two cents, I recommend reading local and international papers and reading politically adjacent content rather than "across the aisle" content. In another time, I might also recommend travelling more, but failing that, I'll recommend watching more Star Trek. ...more

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Sep 27, 2020 Laura Noggle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, 2020

Extremely interesting, and at points, encouraging — especially the part that said people are less religious than at any other time in US history.

This gives me a tiny bit of hope that, no matter who is elected in November, maybe we can all be adults and not let religious beliefs cloud our politics.

Maybe that is too much to ask, but it is 2020.

“So here, then, is the last fifty years of American politics summarized: we became more consistent in the party we vote for not because we came to like ou ...more

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Jul 06, 2020 Philip rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Before you read this book, check out Ezra Klein on Ben Shapiro's podcast. YouTube or SoundCloud. Or just listen wherever you get your podcasts.

(Also, I recognize that a lot of people - especially people who would come all the way to goodreads for an Ezra Klein book - are put off by Ben Shapiro. I am, too. In fact, I gave his book one of my five-harshest 1-star ratings: Here,, it's a quick, fun read. Sometimes I go back to it to cheer myself up. ...But the podcast where he interviews Klein: magni ...more

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Feb 21, 2020 Bruce Katz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: politics

A brilliant, eye-opening, and very thought-provoking look at our current dysfunctional politics, how we got to this awful place, and why we're likely to stay here for a long time. As others have pointed out, Klein begins by explaining why the period of relative peace between the parties (idealized in the Reagan-O'Neill sit-down of the 80s) was an anomaly. From this starting point he examines the many factors that are driving polarization. He reviews the psychological literature on identity forma A brilliant, eye-opening, and very thought-provoking look at our current dysfunctional politics, how we got to this awful place, and why we're likely to stay here for a long time. As others have pointed out, Klein begins by explaining why the period of relative peace between the parties (idealized in the Reagan-O'Neill sit-down of the 80s) was an anomaly. From this starting point he examines the many factors that are driving polarization. He reviews the psychological literature on identity formation, group dynamics, etc., to show how our political identities are formed and how they function. Some very smart readers -- for example, Jill Lepore of Harvard, who critiqued the book on Klein's podcast) -- are skeptical of the claims made about this research. I'll have to remain agnostic on this, though I lean strongly to giving credence to the studies. Next, Klein gives a thorough and sometimes demoralizing summary of how our political landscape has changed. Some of the points he makes I've read elsewhere, but familiarity didn't diminish their force: in particular, the prediction made by demographers that by the 2040s 70% of the country's population will live in metropolitan/blue areas but that they will have only 30% of the U.S. Senate. He discusses as well how statements about the red state electorate always seeming to vote against their own interests is misreading what those interests are. And how Mitch McConnell's actions -- or lack thereof -- on the nomination of Merrick Garland, might have been deplorable (a perspective Klein shares) but it was perfectly rational and was consistent with some readings of the Constitution. And how the "stacking" of identities, coupled with geographical sorting, has altered American politics. Why the political dynamics of the two major parties are so different. And why political affiliation has almost entirely been decoupled from policy.

I'm only scratching the surface in writing this. Klein provides here an extremely smart and thorough guide to what lies beneath and behind our current mess. He is a very clear writer and completely honest about his own leanings. Some readers have taken him to task for offering rather feeble proposed solutions. But Klein acknowledges his lack of enthusiasm or hope in trying to do so. The most important changes -- getting rid of the Electoral College, increasing representation in the House to more accurately reflect the population, increasing access to voting, etc. -- are extremely unlikely to happen, given how much power one party or the other (mostly the other) would have to give up.

The book deserves a very wide readership, even by those who typically don't find themselves picking up books about politics. ...more

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Mar 06, 2020 Rishabh Srivastava rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I am regular listener to Ezra Klein's podcast, and was flummoxed when he announced the book. His company, Vox, is one of the more polarizing media outlets on the left. In some of this podcasts on The Weeds, Klein used to explicitly include as a section that was effectively 'How will Republicans abuse this' for assessing policy proposals.

The book repeatedly reflects the author's biases. There were token acknowledgements of how the problem runs on both sides, but they were swiftly followed up by a ...more

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May 19, 2020 Adam Murphy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Not an analysis so much as a defense of an ideology that is rapidly deteriorating. Ezra Klein is firmly in the center left camp of the Democratic Party, the dreaded PMC class, that is largely high on its own supply of moral superiority. Klein correctly points out that political preference is a lens shaping Americans' view of the world, but Klein cannot take a step back and see how his own ideology is shaping this book and leading to conclusions that are well short of providing answers.

'They are ...more

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Jun 20, 2020 Book rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: politics-economics, social-science

Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein

“Why We're Polarized” is a very good book that describes how American politics became toxic and what it means for our future. Host of the Ezra Klein Show, editor-at-large and cofounder of Vox, Ezra Klein provides readers with an insightful and timely book on our political divide. This instructive 336-page book includes the following ten chapters: 1. How Democrats Became Liberals and Republicans Became Conservatives, 2. The Dixiecrat Dilemma, 3. Your Brain on Grou ...more

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May 28, 2020 Xinyu rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-2022, timely, america, politics-and-foreign-policy

This book offers an explanation on Trump's election from the perspective of identity politics.

He gives two lens of viewing polarization. Individually, we are divided around big matters like religion as well as trivial differences like where we buy grocery. For politicians, they are motivated by negative partisanship - as long as it's a policy proposed by the other side, whatever my stance is, I am going to vote against it. The divisions are further widened by various institutions, such as media This book offers an explanation on Trump's election from the perspective of identity politics.

He gives two lens of viewing polarization. Individually, we are divided around big matters like religion as well as trivial differences like where we buy grocery. For politicians, they are motivated by negative partisanship - as long as it's a policy proposed by the other side, whatever my stance is, I am going to vote against it. The divisions are further widened by various institutions, such as media and American political structures (legislation and executive power are divided). Klein also argues all these divisions are only natural because human mind is wired to form groups, which means to those who feels strongly about that group/identity, winning matters solely.

After reading this, one would ask: why America is more polarized now than ever? Demographics change - 2013 marks the first year where non-white new born babies exceeded the white. When a dominant party loses its dominance, it resists. This applies to Republican and Democratic too. For a long time, Republican Party dominated the white house, but now both parties seem to have a chance. In this case, it has another side-effect - the other party is less willing to cooperate but to seek the maximum chance to win.

When reading the book, especially the first 8 chapters, I can see Klein tries to be empathetic to and rationalizes all sides, even though some of his arguments are forced. For example, in talking about how a politician vote against a bill just because the consensus of his party says so - "collectively, a group can know more and reason better than an individual,..." Gustave Le Bon would beg to differ.

Personally, I find it very hard to empathize with the strong feelings behind identity politics. I keep being doubtful of how much identity politics can explain today's politics. In China, I am from a modest background; in the US, I belong to the "demographic change" and the minority. I don't know how how it feels to lose the dominance, so I could underestimate the bitter feelings and the hatred it can cause. ...more

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Apr 17, 2020 Peter Colclasure rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This might be the best book written about our current political climate. Certainly the most level-headed. Ezra Klein, founder of Vox and certified liberal, gives a refreshingly balanced account of the various incentives and phenomena driving polarization. I’m pretty left myself, so caveat re: choir/preaching, but the reason why I think this is a “good” book as opposed to one I merely agree with is that the Republican/conservative perspective gets a fair and empathetic rendering. (It was even rec ...more

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Mar 27, 2020 Sandi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Ezra Klein details how our partisan divide that permeates every aspect of politics and even every day life wasn’t always this way. As our political parties have grown apart ideologically, we have become more deeply entrenched in our camps. Klein doesn’t give that much of a prescription for bringing us back together, but this is a fascinating analysis on how political partisanship is tearing us apart.

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Sep 09, 2020 Rick Wilson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, psychology

This book is a longform equivalent of Spiderman pointing at Spiderman.

Klein writes clearly and conveys his ideas well. When he’s on the ball it’s great and clear. His years of journalism are obvious as he consistently demonstrates his strengths as a summarizer. This book ties together a wide variety of research and reading to make a case that identity politics is what is “polarizing America." We have assimilated political parties into our identities, similarly to the way we cheer for sports teams or Kardashians. Combined with the fact a wide variety of outlets and sources allows us to consume a narrow band of media that is designed to be highly engaging instead of factual. The first half of the book had me nodding along to most of it. It’s a solid summation of what has been going on. I appreciate the research even if I wasn’t familiar with most of it.

The core weakness of Klein as a writer, at least for this book, is that he’s a great summarizer trying to do analysis. Klein founded a new website based on “explanatory journalism” and he is fantastic at it. However, summary is surface level and reductionist. Analysis keeps digging to the heart of a problem, like a toddler who keeps asking "why." Klein has lost that childlike sense of wonder. He is content to go one level deep and stop.

So, in the second half, when I was hoping for good analysis, I really found this book lacking. For example when about re-elections and party support he quips: “parties aren’t weak because the rules have changed. The rules have changed because the parties are weak” this is essentially a nonsense statement masquerading as some sort of profound maxim. This type of fluff is commonplace in the second half. From “polarized candidates find it easier to raise money” to his declarations that the democrats are the reasonable party.

There’s also a further step that the author needs to take in the examination of his own role in the mess. The whole “you are not in traffic, you are traffic” thing. It was teased a few times, but Ezra pulls away each time, seemingly afraid to examine his own role in this increasing polarization fiasco.

It’s an interesting read. Probably worth your time if you like politics and want to understand the overview of how we got to here. Maybe a good patronizing recommendation to family members who like to talk in circles about “how awful (major news source) is” but I don’t think Ezra is self aware enough to really write a deep book on this subject. ...more

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Sep 14, 2020 Murtaza added it · review of another edition

This is essentially an extended Vox feature article about political polarization. It is not bad as it goes: The author appreciates and explains very well the irrational depths of the problem. Subjectively having just read Matt Taibbi's Hate Inc it just seemed to be a more compelling and exciting depiction of more or less the same phenomenon. Would recommend this book to hardcore political wonks but Taibbi's for casual observers.

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Aug 09, 2020 Donna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Just finished and still thinking through what I think of this book.....

Not an easy read and perhaps not a good one to read in the middle of a pandemic and racial unrest and an election that can't come soon enough....

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Mar 24, 2020 Avolyn Fisher rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, portrait-of-america

"...But toxic systems compromise good individuals with ease. They do so not by demanding we betray our values but by enlisting our values such that we betray each other. What's rational and even moral for us to do individually, becomes destructive when done collectively."

I think the question, how did America become so polarized, is a question nearly every person I know has asked themselves in recent years. A question that was further exacerbated by the 2016 Presidential election and the resultin "...But toxic systems compromise good individuals with ease. They do so not by demanding we betray our values but by enlisting our values such that we betray each other. What's rational and even moral for us to do individually, becomes destructive when done collectively."

I think the question, how did America become so polarized, is a question nearly every person I know has asked themselves in recent years. A question that was further exacerbated by the 2016 Presidential election and the resulting Trump Presidency. I myself often asked, how could republicans/conservatives support someone who so clearly does not toe the platform line. A 'Christian' who is an adulterer and on his 3rd marriage and believes women can be grabbed by their you know what. A 'businessman' who could lead the path of fiscal conservatism despite filing for bankruptcy 6 times. None of it was adding up.

While I don't think this book truly encapsulates every issue that could be examined, I think that book would need to be around 1,000 pages or so. I will say it does a pretty decent job of getting to the crux of the situation and shedding some light on the current state of American politics for those of us who don't have a background in political science and weren't alive to really put the last 50 years of politics into perspective.

Some bigger themes that will stick with me is the key concept of Identity and how that changes our perspective. And the risk Klein brings to bear for those who may not actually agree with a certain candidate or might find themselves drifting from their party but for identity politics and the sake of their career, family, or friend group they have to toe that line or risk losing their livelihoods. This clicked like a light bulb for me. And helped me to understand why some of my dearest friends who seem of sound body and mind, cling so dear to the political stances that they were raised on and that bind them to their hometown and their families.

It offers a somewhat grave outlook on how to turn the tide, knowing that more information doesn't really lead to political enlightenment. And that the media isn't designed to deliver curated key soundbites but they're driven to share the content that will gain viewership (something many of us knew but still is a bit jarring coming from the source of someone in media). And the realization that the way our system is structured to benefit those who 'play the game' it will likely never (at least not in the near future) be a system that rewards cooperation and moderation. ...more

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“Unfortunately, the term “identity politics” has been weaponized. It is most often used by speakers to describe politics as practiced by members of historically marginalized groups. If you’re black and you're worried about police brutality, that’s identity politics. If you’re a woman and you’re worried about the male-female pay gap, that’s identity politics. But if you’re a rural gun owner decrying universal background checks as tyranny, or a billionaire CEO complaining that high tax rates demonize success, or a Christian insisting on Nativity scenes in public squares — well, that just good, old fashioned politics. With a quick sleight of hand, identity becomes something that only marginalized groups have.

The term “identity politics,” in this usage, obscures rather than illuminates; it’s used to diminish and discredit the concerns of the weaker groups by making them look self-interested, special pleading in order to clear the agenda for the concerns of stronger groups, which are framed as more rational, proper topics for political debate. But in wielding identity as a blade, we have lost it as a lens, blinding ourselves in a bid for political advantage. WE are left searching in vaid for what we refuse to allow ourselves to see.” — 8 likes

“The fact that voters ultimately treated Trump as if he were just another Republican speaks to the enormous weight party polarization now exerts on our politics—a weight so heavy that it can take an election as bizarre as 2016 and jam the result into the same grooves as Romney’s contest with Obama or Bush’s race against Kerry. We are so locked into our political identities that there is virtually no candidate, no information, no condition, that can force us to change our minds. We will justify almost anything or anyone so long as it helps our side, and the result is a politics devoid of guardrails, standards, persuasion, or accountability.” — 6 likes

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