Here is Jonathan Haidt establishing that America has become more partisan:
But in the last twelve years Americans have begun to move further apart. There’s been a decline in the number of people calling themselves centrists or moderates (from 40 percent in 2000 down to 36 percent in 2011), a rise in the number of conservatives (from 38 percent to 41 percent), and a rise in the number of liberals (from 19 percent to 21 percent).
He cites Gallup for this fact: go to Gallup.com and search “U.S. Political Ideology.”
He also cites CivilPolitics.org
Candidates began to spend more time and money on “oppo” (opposition research), in which staff members or paid consultants dig up dirt on opponents (sometimes illegally) and then shovel it to the media.
He also cites America’s downgraded credit rating as a failure to work across party lines.
I have heard it said that the predictability of congressional votes based on party affiliation has grown significantly. It is much more common for every Republican to vote the same way or every Democrat to vote the same way. It is rarer to see a handful of politicians vote against their party. I can’t remember if it was Haidt who said this, but it would be further evidence that partisanship has grown.
Though I tend to think he’s right, the justification Jonathan Haidt gives in the book, taken alone, wouldn’t convince me that partisanship in fact has grown. He relies on the commonsense plea that of course partisanship has grown. But that’s not as obvious as some people claim.
Reason.com has a good video of how we romanticize the civility of past partisan debates, and how ridiculous our commonsense notions are.
