You can’t really talk about U.S. politics today without talking about polarization, but that concept is sometimes very murky, and can even be a distraction or a dodge. In this episode, John asks Seth some key questions about polarization — is it getting stronger, how is it related to the media, is it a dodge, is it related to gerrymandering, might it actually be good, can it be mitigated, etc. — and Seth goes off. Plus there’s an important discussion of babka.

Links:

* Daniel Kreiss and Shannon C McGregor, “A Review and Provocation: On Polarization and Platforms”

* Daniel Hopkins, The Increasingly United States

* Paul Pierson and Eric Schickler, Partisan Nation

* Joshua Dyck and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz, The Power of Partisanship

* 1950 APSA report “Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System”

* Poole/Rosenthal/Lewis polarization measurements

* Seth’s Tusk post on Republicans no longer moderating before elections

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