Polarized America

[richlevy]

I heard part of the interview of the author of the new book Polarized America this past week. Unfortunately, I can't remember where. Still, it presents a fascinating point of view.

The idea of America as politically polarized--that there is an unbridgeable divide between right and left, red and blue states--has become a cliché. What commentators miss, however, is that increasing polarization in recent decades has been closely accompanied by fundamental social and economic changes--most notably, a parallel rise in income inequality. In Polarized America, Nolan McCarty, Keith Poole, and Howard Rosenthal examine the relationships of polarization, wealth disparity, immigration, and other forces, characterizing it as a dance of give and take and back and forth causality.

In other words, in times in US history when there have been large gaps in income, there have been bitter examples of partisanship.

Here is a link to what might be the working paper that the author presented.