Polarization and the Durability of Madisonian Checks and Balances

• In Event: Democratic Resilience: Can the US Withstand Rising Polarization?

Abstract

Since the 1970’s the American political system has undergone a dramatic increase in partisan polarization. Scholars have a growing understanding of the forces that moved the system from one arrangement to the other. They have begun to advance our understanding of the characteristics of this new high-polarization setting as well. Yet we are just beginning to wrestle effectively with the profound consequences of modern polarization for our politics.

In this paper, we explore some aspects of how that polarization is influencing executive-legislative relations, a potentially vital domain for democratic resilience. Adopting a developmental approach to polarization, we investigate how broad institutional configurations, extending beyond formal political institutions, might either dampen or intensify polarization once it emerges. From this perspective, contemporary polarization looks quite distinctive.

Authors

• Paul Pierson, University of California, Berkeley

• Eric Schickler, University of California, Berkeley