Is political polarization caused by structures (districts, rules, incentives) rather than by people?
Axis: structural ... personal / cultural
John
| date | change | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-04-03 | new | John argues that US politicians keep disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing because yelling at each other wins more political points than sensible compromise, producing costly short-term policymaking. | Idiotic Governance: How Our Political Discourse Hurts Our Economy 00:03:19 |
| 2013-01-01 | refine | John argues that because state legislatures draw safe districts, members fear only primary challengers and have no incentive to compromise; he sees this as a central reason Congress can't act. | Why Does Congress Suck? 00:01:41 |
Hank
| date | change | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-10-01 | restate | Hank says redrawn, ever more partisan districts radicalize representatives into uncooperativeness, 'sort of the root of the problem'. | The Lowdown on the Shutdown 00:02:14 |
Timeline notes
- Hank: first recorded event is restate (earlier stance may be outside 2007–2013 or unrecorded)