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Party Polarization in Congress
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The Case of the Vanishing Moderates
2
The Case of the Vanishing Moderates:
Party Polarization in the Modern Congress
Abstract
The two political parties in Congress are as ideologically distinct as they
have been at any point in the last three decades. Scholars, analyzing the factors that have propelled this polarization, have come to different conclusions. Several recent studies find that fundamental shifts in party strategies inside Congress have polarized the parties (Collie and Mason 2000 and Roberts and Smith 2003), while others claim that the shift in the electorate has driven party divergence (Fleisher and Bond 2003 and Stonecash et al. 2003). This article takes two necessary steps back to analyze party polarization. First, I explore the underlying mechanisms that have given rise to the trend. Roughly one-third of the party polarization results from individual member adaptation while two-thirds come from the replacement of moderate members by more ideologically extreme members. Second, I discuss the extent of the polarization that has occurred. In short, the Congress is between 70 and 100 percent more polarized in the 106
th
Congress than it was in the 92
nd
Congress.
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| | Authors: Theriault, Sean. |
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The Case of the Vanishing Moderates
2
The Case of the Vanishing Moderates:
Party Polarization in the Modern Congress
Abstract
The two political parties in Congress are as ideologically distinct as they
have been at any point in the last three decades. Scholars, analyzing the factors that
have propelled this polarization, have come to different conclusions. Several recent
studies find that fundamental shifts in party strategies inside Congress have polarized
the parties (Collie and Mason 2000 and Roberts and Smith 2003), while others claim
that the shift in the electorate has driven party divergence (Fleisher and Bond 2003
and Stonecash et al. 2003). This article takes two necessary steps back to analyze
party polarization. First, I explore the underlying mechanisms that have given rise to
the trend. Roughly one-third of the party polarization results from individual
member adaptation while two-thirds come from the replacement of moderate
members by more ideologically extreme members. Second, I discuss the extent of
the polarization that has occurred. In short, the Congress is between 70 and 100
percent more polarized in the 106
th
Congress than it was in the 92
nd
Congress.
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