Political Dysfunction

Jonathan Bernstein responds to an essay by Rick Hasen which considers whether constitutional change is needed to fix a broken political system.  Hasen concludes that the current problems are temporary.  But Bernstein makes the case that polarization isn't the source of the dysfunction, but rather it is the Republican Party itself that has become dysfunctional.

Update (April 13):  Rick Perlstein writes about the difference between liberals and conservatives.

Update (April 24):  Evidence that Republicans are no longer interested in public policy.

Update (April 13, 2014):  Mark Sumner at DailyKos reacts to a Ross Douthat column complaining about the "elitism" of academics:

No matter how you might wish it, academia is not going to accept climate change denials on the same level as climate scientists who point out the danger. They're not going to accept creationism as equivalent to evolution. They're not going to buy into fantasies that paint every Muslim as a violent terrorist. They're not going to accept that homosexuals are inherently evil or inherently deserving of fewer rights than heterosexuals. That's not because academia has a secret code of liberalism. It's because academia has a very open and public adherence to evidence. to facts, to reality. So long as conservative means "in denial of the basic facts about the world" you can bet it will find little purchase at serious universities.

Diversity does not mean that falsehoods are given the same weight as facts.  And if in your mind "elite" means "stubbornly clings to facts," I can live with that.

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  And yet when people speak out against injustice as documented by an historical record, someone like Bill O'Reilly will belittle them as part of a "grievance industry".

Update (April 15, 2014):  Anecdotes become facts and intolerance of bigots becomes "liberal fascism".

Update (April 19, 2014):  When scientific consensus threatens your worldview, having more information generally leads to rationalizing what you already believe.  You have two choices: either accept the consensus (and change a part of how you identify yourself) or declare the consensus a conspiracy to create a hoax. Contradictory evidence is now just part of the conspiracy.  It explains more than science can because coherence and consistency aren't required.

Update (May 2, 2014):  Are conservatives "crazy"?

Update (May 17, 2014):  Amanda Marcotte analyzes five right wing delusions.  And Paul Krugman (refering to climate change) adds that "truly crazy positions are becoming the norm".

Update (June 20, 2014):  Amanda Marcotte claims rationality has become a partisan issue.