Joseph Fishkin (Texas) and Heather Gerken (Yale): The Two Trends that Matter for Party Politics. Matt Grossmann (Michigan State) and David A. Hopkins (BC): Policymaking in Red and Blue: Asymmetric Partisan Politics and American Governance. Reza Mousavi, Bin Gu , and Ajay Vinze (ASU): The Role of Online Social Networks in Political Polarization of Elite Politicians. Jeffrey M. Berry and Robert Joseph (Tufts) and Kent E. Portney (Texas A&M): The Tea Party in Local Politics. A look at how the Right-wing echo chamber extends far beyond Fox News. In this polarized age, have citizens retreated into information cocoons of like-minded media sources? Jesse Rhodes (UMass): Party Polarization and the Ascendance of Bipartisan Posturing as a Dominant Strategy in Presidential Rhetoric. Cass Sunstein on how “partyism” now trumps racism. David Brooks on why partyism is wrong. Do political parties corrupt the souls of their members? Adam Kirsch on the metaphysical case for abolishing political parties. Jonathan Chait on how Washington bipartisanship nostalgia is eternal. Benjamin Wallace-Wells on Obama and the 6-year itch. From TNR, Jonathan Cohn on how the new GOP Senate will try to dismantle Obamacare; National Review says the GOP Senate shouldn't bother governing — they're right; and Danny Vinik on how Democrats should use the filibuster ruthlessly against the Republican Senate — block everything. American politics is descending into a meaningless, demographically driven seesaw: Get ready for another wave in two years, then another one back in the other direction two years after that. Liberals may still own the future of American politics, but the future is taking a very long time to arrive: The Democrats have two choices now — gridlock or annihilation. Brad Plumer on how the biggest loser in this election is the climate.
