… We offer a way to make sense of this discrepancy between our representatives and those they represent. We argue that polarization does exist in the electorate, but also contend that it is not ideological in nature. That polarization in the electorate is not ideological makes sense because 60 years of research suggests that most Americans do not think about politics ideologically. Instead, we uncover increasingly and deeply sour feelings that partisans now have about the other political party. A consequence of these negative feelings is vanishingly low trust in government when their party is out of power. As a result, public consensus rarely if ever develops on issues, and public opinion fails to nudge policymakers toward compromise. CONT.
Marc Hetherington (Vanderbilt) & Thomas Rudolph (U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), The Monkey Cage