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“While political polarization a long history in this country, in retrospect, historians variously point to the 2016 or 2020 election as the year in which erstwhile political polarization over social issues transformed into social polarization over political issues. Consensus over the issues of the previous half century – abortion, gay rights, recreational marijuana, and gun ownership – was largely reached, and climate change would soon create new opportunities for political consensus, but the political camps of ‘Red America’ and ‘Blue America’ became ever more entrenched, each with its own news media, entertainment industries, institutions, and increasingly salient cultural identities. Federal gridlock and inaction sped-up the growth in regionalism by ceding (or returning) decision-making power to State governments, which often acted in partisan ways. Although the United States did not (despite predications at the time) descend into civil war, sporadic and high-profile terrorist attacks raised distrust on both sides, and, starting in the 2030s, patterns of ‘Red Flight’ and ‘Blue Flight’ left more communities and states increasingly homogenous as to their political leaning.

Without meaningful political or electoral reform, America was destined to remain a two-party system. Without a reversal of the trends leading to cultural polarization, however, the United States increasingly resembled two countries, each with their own two-party system.”

– The Powering-Sharing Agreement: What You Need to Know to Understand the U.S. Political System, by Jordan F. Andersen

//Eh, hopefully this topic hasn't been beaten to death already.

Description

“While political polarization a long history in this country, in retrospect, historians variously point to the 2016 or 2020 election as the year in which erstwhile political polarization over social issues transformed into social polarization over political issues. Consensus over the issues of the previous half century – abortion, gay rights, recreational marijuana, and gun ownership – was largely reached, and climate change would soon create new opportunities for political consensus, but the political camps of ‘Red America’ and ‘Blue America’ became ever more entrenched, each with its own news media, entertainment industries, institutions, and increasingly salient cultural identities. Federal gridlock and inaction sped-up the growth in regionalism by ceding (or returning) decision-making power to State governments, which often acted in partisan ways. Although the United States did not (despite predications at the time) descend into civil war, sporadic and high-profile terrorist attacks raised distrust on both sides, and, starting in the 2030s, patterns of ‘Red Flight’ and ‘Blue Flight’ left more communities and states increasingly homogenous as to their political leaning.

Without meaningful political or electoral reform, America was destined to remain a two-party system. Without a reversal of the trends leading to cultural polarization, however, the United States increasingly resembled two countries, each with their own two-party system.”

– The Powering-Sharing Agreement: What You Need to Know to Understand the U.S. Political System, by Jordan F. Andersen

//Eh, hopefully this topic hasn't been beaten to death already.