Why Washington won't work : polarization, political trust, and the governing crisis / Marc J. Hetherington, Thomas J. Rudolph.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hetherington, Marc J., 1968- author.

Rudolph, Thomas J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Politics, Practical--United States.

Politics, Practical.

Polarization (Social sciences).

Trust--Political aspects.

Trust.

United States.

Trust--Political aspects--United States.

Polarization (Social sciences)--United States.

United States--Politics and government--2009-.

Politics and government.

Political parties--United States.

Political parties.

Physical Description:

xii, 264 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2015.

Summary:

Polarization is at an all-time high in the United States. But contrary to popular belief, Americans are polarized not so much in their policy preferences as in their feelings toward their political opponents: To an unprecedented degree, Republicans and Democrats simply do not like one another. No surprise that these deeply held negative feelings are central to the recent (also unprecedented) plunge in congressional effectiveness. Marc J. Hetherington and Thomas J. Rudolph argue that a contemporary crisis of trust-people whose party is out of power have almost no trust in a government run by the other side-has deadlocked Congress. On most issues, party leaders can convince their own party to support their positions. In order to pass legislation, however, they must also create consensus by persuading some portion of the opposing party to trust in their vision for the future. Without trust, consensus fails to develop and compromise does not occur. Up until recently, such trust could still usually be found among the opposition, but not anymore. Political trust, the authors show, is far from a stable characteristic. It's actually highly variable and contingent on a variety of factors, including whether one's party is in control, which part of the government one is dealing with, and which policies or events are most salient at the moment. Book jacket.

Contents:

Why extreme leaders don't listen to a moderate public

Polarization, political trust, and institutional responsiveness

What moves political trust

How political trust became polarized

How priming changes the consequences of political trust

Political trust can help conservatives, too

The gordian knot: a bad economy, low trust, and the need for more spending

Political trust and flagging support for Obamacare

Can things change?

Things will probably get better, but we are not sure how.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226299181

022629918X

9780226299211

022629921X

OCLC:

898910747