Contempt in Congress

• In Event: Polarization in Legislative Politics

Abstract

Public approval of Congress is at an all-time low. So, too, is comity in Congress. Pundits, politicians, and political scientists too frequently discuss these trends under the broad rubric of party polarization. In this paper, I tease out a dimension different from party polarization, that I call “contempt” – an unwillingness to even engage the other side of the proverbial congressional aisle. While the concepts are, undoubtedly, related, I argue that their distinction is critical for understanding the current congressional dynamics. I sketch out this new concept using some rather interesting new data sources.

Author

• Sean M. Theriault, University of Texas, Austin