Political Divide

[xoxoxoBruce]

Everyone knows our political system is more polarized than ever — or at least more polarized than it has been in a good long while. (The fall of 1860 was probably worse.) But do we recognize what really divides the parties? Sure, we like to think it's ideology. Big government versus small government, more regulation versus less regulation, "yay!" for same-sex marriage versus "boo!" for same-sex marriage. You get the idea.

At the risk of sounding like I'm doing a David Brooks impersonation, I'd like to suggest that there is another, perhaps more fundamental division at work in our political system.

Ladies and gentlemen: I give you the Rule Followers and Do Gooders.

A good explanation of the political divide at The Week.