So I guess it has nothing to do with 50 years of identity politics and the never ending push of minority groups to define the political space. The middle ground and compromise are forgotten concepts.

And this paper only adds fuel to the fire with it's completely lop-sided political journalism.

@Observer, By “50 years of identity politics and the never ending push of minority groups to define the political space” do you mean the unfinished job of making America work for everyone and not just white men? Perhaps you are right that progress on racial and gender equality has led to increased polarization — owing to a backlash by those who have unfairly held outsized power for so long seeking to maintain / increase their power. We do need to address polarization in our nation and communities, but not by giving up on equality.

@Observer - It has often been noted that when those who have ALL the power begin to have to share some of it they can feel as though they are being marginalized and discriminated against. This is a natural evolutionary impulse and is a sign your old paradigm is deconstructing and is trying to hold onto itself. Good news is you are on the verge of a breakthrough into a more holistic view of reality.

More generally, the perverse incentives of media and our current form of governance actually promotes divisiveness, the former for profit and the latter as a political tactic to prevent the American people from uniting to take back our country. A unified populace can more easily get our act together and reform society for the better -- which inevitably means legacy systems like corporate media and centralized (and corrupted) governments will be replaced with something better. A system more transparent, accountable, able to respond dynamically in real time, and with a clearly-defined focus to improve individuals, culture and society.

I believe that the US is nearly unique among the countries studied in having (for all practical purposes) a 2-party system rather than a multi-party parliamentary system. It seems to me that could be something that could be studied. If we had 3 or 4 strong parties like Canada or most of Europe I think there would be more compromise in the policy-making process rather than the current "if I win, you must lose" approach that dominates national politics.