Era Of Polarization Research Articles

The Importance of Consociationalism for Twenty‐First Century Politics and Political Science

AbstractFive decades after the term consociationalism made its debut in the comparative politics of divided societies, the huge body of international literature it has sparked continues to grow. In an era of populism and polarization, interest in the many facets of consociationalism is at an all‐time high. This introduction to the special issue of Half a Century of Consociationalism: Cases and Comparisons gives an impression of the contemporary state of the consociational research agenda. In addition, the introduction suggests some potentially rewarding new avenues, such as leadership studies, and cautions against the conflation of consociationalism and power sharing. It also voices some skepticism about the suggested promise of large N‐quantitative studies in a field still dominated by case‐based research. Overall, the introduction and the contributions to this special issue demonstrate the importance of consociationalism for twenty‐first century politics and political science – empirically, normatively, and prescriptively.

City Charters as Local Constitutions

City charters are the forgotten constitutions of our federal system. In an era of political gridlock and national polarization, cities and other local governments are increasingly addressing policy concerns once thought of as state, federal, or even international responsibilities. The legal institutions that govern local democracy correspondingly deserve newfound scrutiny. Charters serve many of the same underlying functions that constitutions perform at other levels of government, delineating institutions and articulating areas of “higher” law for local governments, but charters are rarely taken seriously as constitutional documents. This Article argues that foregrounding the constitutional dimensions of city charters provides new theoretical insights into local governance and the role that local governments play in our political order. Charters, like the federal Constitution, can be a locus for constitutional meaning and collective identity, rendering fundamental choices about governmental structure, political process, and individual rights more salient—and doctrinally significant—at the local level. Understanding city charters as constitutional texts, in turn, carries normative implications. Properly approached, charters can reinforce the conception of local governments as democratic polities rather than administrative arms of the state or quasi-private service providers, at a time when the democratic underpinnings of localism are under strain. Improving the constitutional nature of charters can also serve a legitimating function for cities, furthering rule-of-law values such as transparency and stability in local governance. This recognition of the conceptual and normative constitutional potential of city charters, finally, suggests pragmatic pathways for reforming the law and practice surrounding these foundational instruments. The Article accordingly proposes innovations in how state and local governments approach charters, emphasizing the importance of inclusive process in ratifying and amending charters at what are, in essence, critical local constitutional moments.

Limiting Policy Backlash: Strategies for Taming Countercoalitions in an Era of Polarization

Policy backlash occurs when people or organizations mobilize against a policy during or after its enactment, diminishing the power of supporters and reducing the likelihood of the policy’s subsequent entrenchment and expansion. This article analyzes backlash as a case of negative policy feedback and explores some of the mechanisms through which backlash occurs among elites, organized groups, and mass publics. The main focus is on the politics of “backlash prevention”: using strategies to minimize the prospects of countercoalitions against policies serving diffuse or marginalized constituencies in an era of partisan polarization. These strategies include increasing the progressivity of programs after they have become embedded, recognizing that reforms can threaten the social identities and status of constituencies, and increasing reliance on low-visibility taxes. While countercoalitions cannot be completely neutralized in today’s contentious political environment, these strategies can load the dice in favor of sustainable change.

Review of Robert L. Tsai's Practical Equality: Forging Justice in a Divided Nation (W.W. Norton & Co., 2019)

This is a brief review of Robert L. Tsai's book, Practical Equality: Forging Justice in a Divided Nation (W.W. Norton & Co., 2019). In his timely and thoughtful book, Robert Tsai advocates a pragmatic approach to achieving equality in an era of political polarization and cultural cleavages. The review acknowledges that sometimes partial equality or equality by other means is all that is possible, but questions whether the rhetorical and other tools of practical equality can achieve meaningful progress in terms of actual equality.

The Political Economy of the United States in the Era of Hatred and Partisan Polarization

This paper uses conceptual economics to analyze the consequences of the rising racial-gender hatred and partisan polarization on the political economy of the United States. The upsurge in hate crimes nationwide is due to the politicians’ peddling of hate-creating stories and false narratives. This paper identifies and discusses the three interdependent institutions through which hatred and partisan polarization could destabilize the political economy; and tests whether the increasing racial-gender hate crimes, partisan polarization, and government shutdowns have adverse effects. The statistical tests confirm the research hypotheses about the rising racial-gender hate crimes; and that partisan polarization and government shutdowns have negative effects on Congressional productivity in the United States.

Introduction: The Political Beliefs and Civic Engagement of Physicians in an Era of Polarization

Introduction: The Political Beliefs and Civic Engagement of Physicians in an Era of Polarization

The Home as a Political Fortress: Family Agreement in an Era of Polarization

The manifestations of party polarization in America are well known: legislative gridlock, harsh elite rhetoric, and at the level of the electorate, increasing hostility across the partisan divide. We investigate the ramifications of polarization for processes of family socialization. Using the classic 1965 Youth-Parent Political Socialization Panel data as a baseline, we employ original national surveys of spouses and offspring conducted in 2015 supplemented by the 2014 and 2016 TargetSmart national voter files to demonstrate that political correspondence between married couples and parent-offspring agreement have both increased substantially in the polarized era. We further demonstrate that the principal reason for increased spousal correspondence is mate selection based on politics. Spousal agreement, in turn, creates an “echo chamber” that facilitates intergenerational continuity. Overall, our results suggest a vicious cycle by which socialization exacerbates party polarization.

Educating Educators in the Age of Trump

This essay will outline what we did in the 15-week course, Education in the Age of Trump, and will document the ways in which it made us all vulnerable. It will analyze the possibilities and perils of creating an overtly political classroom in an era of political polarization and widespread fear.

Teaching environmental policy in an era of polarization and misrepresentation

The current national leadership in the United States poses challenges for anyone teaching in the environmental policy field. Although previous political administrations have been critical of environmental programs, the Trump administration poses new and different kinds of threats, among them a rejection of scientific analysis, selective use of policy data, a disregard for long-term threats like climate change, and a lack of policy and scientific integrity. Teachers of environmental policy should recognize these issues while building the capacities of students for using policy and scientific analysis critically and with integrity.

Safeguarding the public trust: Teaching organizational dissent in an era of political polarization

ABSTRACTOver recent decades political polarization has transformed the political, ideological, and cultural landscape of the United States. Political polarization has also contributed to increased attacks against the administrative state and career public servants. As a result, some career public servants have fought back making use of various methods of organizational dissent. The article argues that MPA/PPA programs have a moral obligation to help students understand the impact of political polarization on the administrative state and to help students in MPA/PPA to explore organizational dissent in the context of political polarization.

Requirements for selecting ports of call in the era of cruise polarization

Requirements for selecting ports of call in the era of cruise polarization

Facing Facts in an Era of Political Polarization: Young People’s Learning and Knowledge about Economic Inequality

Facing Facts in an Era of Political Polarization: Young People’s Learning and Knowledge about Economic Inequality

The effect of similarity, time of release, and message type on the evaluation of extended brand in the era of consumption polarization

The effect of similarity, time of release, and message type on the evaluation of extended brand in the era of consumption polarization

The effect of similarity, time of release, and message type on the evaluation of extended brand in the era of consumption polarization

The effect of similarity, time of release, and message type on the evaluation of extended brand in the era of consumption polarization

State Budgetary Delays in an Era of Party Polarization

This article examines the relationship between state budgetary delays and party polarization. Although others have evaluated the influence of divided government on a state’s likelihood of passing a budget on time, the influence of party polarization has not been explored. Given the growing rate of party polarization in the American states, it is important to understand the implications that this trend has for the budgetary process. The first analysis in this article predicts if a budgetary delay will occur, and the second evaluates the factors that explain how long the stalemate continues when a delay occurs.

Are All Foreign Policy Innovators Created Equal? The New Generation of Congressional Foreign Policy Entrepreneurship: Table 1.

This study revisits Carter and Scott’s model of congressional foreign policy entrepreneurship (2004, 2009, 2010) to evaluate how a new generation of legislative innovators, including Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, may influence US foreign policy. Specifically, this study proposes two new types of foreign policy entrepreneurs in Congress—“revolutionaries” and “mercenaries”—and examines their different motivations, policy objectives, and strategies to attempt to influence or change state behavior. Case evidence suggests that in a new era of partisanship and polarization, more complex models of players, strategies, and measures of success are needed.

Todos juntos: hippies, rock music, and the Popular Unity era

Scholars traditionally have characterized the 1960s and early 1970s as an era of political polarization in Chile stemming from an intensifying rift between those who supported the leftist Popular Unity government (1970–1973) and those who opposed it. While there is little question that this division was the fundamental political axis in Chilean society at that time, it was not the only one. This article traces the development of rock music and culture among Chile’s youth to assert that while Chilean society polarized over the Popular Unity government, an additional segment of society emerged as an additional socio-political pole. During the Popular Unity era, a significant number of Chile’s youth rejected both the political right and left by assertively refraining from taking stances in regards to party platforms or candidates, rejecting those sounds, images, and traditions tied to the right and to the left in favor of an alternative political and cultural orientation tied to rock music and hippie counterculture.

The State of American Federalism 2014–15: Pathways to Policy in an Era of Party Polarization

The state of American federalism in 2014–2015 is characterized by inertia and centrifugal force. Party polarization and divided government exacerbate gridlock at the federal level as President Obama faces Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. Policy activity has shifted outward to state legislatures and citizens, the federal and state executive branches, and the court system, creating a diverse set of alternative institutional pathways and outcomes. Some policies, like Medicaid and K-12 education, are largely shaped by federal-state executive branch negotiations, leading to individualized state programs. Other policies—such as marijuana, gun, and immigration laws—are made by state legislatures or citizens acting through the initiative process. Meanwhile, a series of court decisions has doubled the number of states where same-sex marriage is legal. In the current political context, American federalism is characterized by a substantial dispersion of power and a variety of pathways to policy-making.

The Presidential Road Show: Public Leadership in an Era of Party Polarization and Media Fragmentation

The Presidential Road Show: Public Leadership in an Era of Party Polarization and Media Fragmentation

The presidential road show: public leadership in an era of party polarization and media fragmentation

The presidential road show: public leadership in an era of party polarization and media fragmentation