Despite what we hear in the media, Americans have not become more polarized―they’re just better sorted into the political parties. Continuing the research reported in the widely-read Culture War?, Morris Fiorina shows in this new book that what has occurred in the United States is the sorting of partisan sub-groups within the larger electorate--especially among partisan office holders, party activists and campaign donors. Although party wars seem to prevail on every front every day, since political candidates are now more liberal (if Democratic) and more conservative (if Republican) than the country as a whole, perceptions can be deceiving. Voters confronted with more extreme candidates can only choose the least disagreeable. By no means has the political center vanished―it is simply homeless in today’s party system. The American public―even partisans--often shows more agreement on issues like gay marriage, abortion, and gun control than do the warring parties on the Hill or in the White House, suggesting that our country could make progress on the issues we face if only we could break the stranglehold two sorted parties hold on the political process.

Product Description: Red states, blue states . . . are we no longer the United States? Morris P. Fiorina here examines today’s party system to reassess arguments about party polarization while offering a cogent overview of the American electorate.Building on the arguments of Fiorina’s acclaimed Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America, this book explains how contemporary politics differs from that of previous eras and considers what might be done to overcome the unproductive politics of recent decades...read more