The Second Civil War : How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America

In recent years American politics has seemingly become much more partisan, more zero-sum, more vicious, and less able to confront the real problems our nation faces. What has happened? In The Second Civil War , respected political commentator Ronald Brownstein diagnoses the electoral, demographic, and institutional forces that have wreaked such change over the American political landscape, pulling politics into the margins and leaving precious little common ground for compromise. The Second Civil War is not a book for Democrats or Republicans but for all Americans who are disturbed by our current political dysfunction and hungry for ways to understand it—and move beyond it. "In The Second Civil War, respected political commentator Ronald Brownstein diagnoses the electoral, demographic, and institutional forces that have wreaked such change over the American political landscape, pulling politics into the margins and leaving precious little common ground for compromise. The Second Civil War is not a book for Democrats or Republicans but for all Americans who are disturbed by our current political dysfunction and hungry for ways to understand it--and move beyond it."--Amazon.com viewed December 7, 2020 A respected political commentator presents a large-scale analysis of the forces that have contributed to the bitter partisan divides in today's political arena, drawing on historical factors while citing such elements as congressional rule changes, a rise in special-interest pressure groups, and a vastly changed media environment. Reprint.