Political polarization

In a letter to the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, William Bendix comments:

"Probably the best explanation for the growing divide in American politics comes from Nolan McCarty, Keith Poole, and Howard Rosenthal, who argue that growing economic disparities and rising immigration rates are strongly correlated with political polarization. In their book, Polarized America (2006), they show that ideological divisions decreased between 1913 and 1957, when income disparities and immigration rates fell, and that the divisions have increased sharply since the 1970s, as income disparities and immigration rates suddenly grew.

Interesting and well put. I'd be interested to see the more specific influences of income disparities and immigration rates independent of each other, and how the authors factor in the influence of social/religious issues such as abortion and gay marraige.

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