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Nolan McCarty

Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches (Walras-Pareto Lectures) Paperback – January 25, 2008

by Nolan McCarty (Author), Keith T. Poole (Author), Howard Rosenthal (Author)

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The idea of America as politically polarized--that there is an unbridgeable divide between right and left, red and blue states--has become a cliché. What commentators miss, however, is that increasing polarization in recent decades has been closely accompanied by fundamental social and economic changes--most notably, a parallel rise in income inequality. In Polarized America, Nolan McCarty, Keith Poole, and Howard Rosenthal examine the relationships of polarization, wealth disparity, immigration, and other forces, characterizing it as a dance of give and take and back and forth causality. Using NOMINATE (a quantitative procedure that, like interest group ratings, scores politicians on the basis of their roll call voting records) to measure polarization in Congress and public opinion, census data and Federal Election Commission finance records to measure polarization among the public, the authors find that polarization and income inequality fell in tandem from 1913 to 1957 and rose together dramatically from 1977 on; they trace a parallel rise in immigration beginning in the 1970s. They show that Republicans have moved right, away from redistributive policies that would reduce income inequality. Immigration, meanwhile, has facilitated the move to the right: non-citizens, a larger share of the population and disproportionately poor, cannot vote; thus there is less political pressure from the bottom for redistribution than there is from the top against it. In "the choreography of American politics" inequality feeds directly into political polarization, and polarization in turn creates policies that further increase inequality.

Editorial Reviews

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"A breath of fresh air.... A book that will guide and inform the study of polarization for years to come."-- Jeffrey A. Jenkins, ""Chicago Tribune""

"Important.... Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what's happening to America."-- Paul Krugman, ""New York Times""

"The topic of polarization--its causes and consequences--has risen to the front of the study of American politics. Nolan McCarty and his coauthors have written the gold standard against which others will be judged. Their analysis of the consequences of polarization has caused me to rethink my belief that there are no real policy consequences to the elite polarization of American politics."--David W. Brady, Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Professor of Political Science and Leadership Values, Stanford University

"In this impressive book, McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal break through the wall political scientists have inadvertently constructed between American political institutions and American society. Their findings concerning the links between mounting inequality, immigration, and the rise of political polarization are sure to generate much discussion. Their fine scholarship will enlighten that discussion as well."--Paul Pierson, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

"A breath of fresh air.... A book that will guide and inform the study of polarization for years to come." Jeffrey A. Jenkins "Chicago Tribune"

"Important.... Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what's happening to America." Paul Krugman "New York Times"

A breath of fresh air.... A book that will guide and inform the study of polarization for years to come.--Jeffrey A. Jenkins ""Chicago Tribune" "

Important.... Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what's happening to America.--Paul Krugman ""New York Times" "

About the Author

Nolan McCarty is Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University.

Keith T. Poole is Philip H. Alston Distinguished Professor of the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.

Howard Rosenthal is Professor of Politics at New York University and Roger Williams Straus Professor Emeritus at Princeton University.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press (January 25, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 252 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262633612
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262633611
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.5 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,737,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,524 in Political Economy
- #1,855 in General Elections & Political Process
- #3,232 in Economic Conditions (Books)

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Nolan McCarty

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Nolan McCarty is the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs. His research interests include U.S. politics, democratic political institutions, and political game theory. He is the recipient of the Robert Eckles Swain National Fellowship from the Hoover Institution and the John M. Olin Fellowship in Political Economy. He has co-authored or edited five books: Political Game Theory (2006, Cambridge University Press with Adam Meirowitz), Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches (2006 and 2016, MIT Press with Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal), Political Bubbles: Financial Crises and the Failure of American Democracy (2013, Princeton University Press with Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal), Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know (2019, Oxford University Press), and Can America Govern Itself? (2019, Cambridge University Press with Frances Lee). In 2010, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He earned his A.B. from the University of Chicago and his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University.

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Douglas B. Wilson

A worthwhile read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 2, 2006

Polarized America is a difficult, but valuable read. Nolan McCarty, Keith Poole, and Howard Rosenthal, three political scientists wrote the book for other political scientists. Nevertheless, reading and then rereading the book is time well spent. Their arguments about our current political polarization are thoughtful and detailed. I will not summarize the book beyond a list of the chapters and a follow-up sentence.

1. The Choreography of American Politics

2. Polarized Politicians

3. Income Polarization and the Electorate

4. Immigration, Income, and the Voter's Incentive to Redistribute

5. Campaign Finance and Polarization

6. Polarization and Public Policy

7. Where Have you Gone, Mr. Sam [Rayburn]

Excellent graphics and tables, which the reader should avoid the temptation to skip, illustrate the chapters.

A one-sentence summary of their thesis is that America is politically stuck and is likely to remain so until tectonic social events move the parties from the political edges back to the middle, the position from which American political institutions work best.

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