On Apr 2, 2012, at 10:11 AM, Michael Smith wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Apr 2012 00:00:43 -0400
> Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
>>> Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> the partisan divide in Congress now is far greater than it was
>>>> 30 or 40 years ago
>>>
>>> People often say this, but I can't quite figure out
>>> what they mean by it. Is there any way to quantify it?
>>
>> Yes. Political scientists do it all the time. It's late, otherwise I'd post examples.
>
> A link maybe?
Ok, not so late now. Here's a journalistic one:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/congress-hits-new-peak-in-polarization-20110224
A longer-term academic one:
http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/extensions/fall2005/Poole.pdf
with updates:
http://voteview.com/dwnomin_joint_house_and_senate.htm
Doug