The Decline and Rise of Party Polarization in Congress During the 20th Century

Abstract:     
In 1984 Howard Rosenthal and I published a paper in the Journal of Politics titled "The Polarization of American Politics." We found that beginning in the mid-1970s, American politics became much more divisive. More Democrats staked out consistently liberal positions, and more Republicans supported wholly conservative ones. The primary evidence in that study, which focused exclusively on the Senate, were ratings issued by interest groups such as the Americans for Democratic Action and the United States Chamber of Commerce.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 12

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