When will we give up on the idea of a leader who will magically bring consensus and unity to our politics? …
After the civil rights movement, the parties realigned on the issue of race, setting in motion a return to the historic norm of polarization that prevailed in the late 19th and early 20th century. This process, which is transforming all of our nation’s political institutions, has been supercharged by the way the parties have become more closely aligned with ideological movements than ever before.
The result is what the political scientist Richard Skinner calls the partisan presidency. In this era, presidents are dividers, not uniters (to reverse George W. Bush’s famous phrase); their public appeal is deeply polarized along party lines and they depend overwhelmingly on the support of co-partisans in Congress to enact legislation. They are particularly vulnerable to obstruction from the opposition party, which can withhold support as congressional Republicans have done, denying the president the imprimatur of bipartisanship and producing legislative gridlock for which the president is often blamed. CONT.
Brendan Nyhan (Dartmouth), New York Times