The trend worries the media and political establishment because it interferes with the orderly administration of the capitalist state which depends on bipartisan cooperation between the two major parties.
The “increasing polarization seems to be creating a self-perpetuating downward cycle”, Seib writes. Among Republican and Democratic activists at opposite ends of the political spectrum, "the political paralysis created by the deepening ideological divide in Washington is generating anger. In the middle, it is creating disillusionment and apathy, diminishing the impact of those in the center and enhancing further the power of the ideological wings.”
The piece provides further confirmation that, however blurred the differences may be between the party leaderships, the two parties at the base are sharply divided on the major issues in American politics: the role of unions, abortion, gay rights, gun control, policing of black communities, climate change, immigration, civil liberties, and foreign policy.
The article, behind a paywall, is reproduced below.
Most Important Election 2016 Feature: Deep and Growing Ideological Divide By Gerald F. Seib Wall Street Journal Dec. 28, 2015
As the nation heads into what figures to be a dramatic election year, its defining political characteristic isn’t love or hate for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
Instead, the most important feature of America’s political landscape is a deep and growing ideological divide.
This divide will be especially apparent early in the new year, when the most divided groups in America, the Republican and Democratic voters who show up for primary elections and caucuses, hold the keys to the presidential selection process. These folks disagree, deeply, on an array of social issues, on the nation’s top priorities, and on what kind of leader they are seeking in the next president.
Collectively, these voters are driving Republican candidates to the right and Democratic candidates to the left—and ensuring that the challenge of bringing the country together will be tougher after the election, regardless of who wins.
A clear picture of this divide emerges from the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, taken in mid-December. Consider:
— Almost 7 in 10 Republican primary voters describe themselves as strong supporters of the traditional definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. Among Democratic primary voters, the figure is just 25%.
— Among Democratic primary voters, 62% say they strongly back immediate action to combat climate change. Just 13% of Republican primary voters share that view.
— A new issue splitting the parties at their bases is the Black Lives Matter Movement. Almost half of Democratic primary voters call themselves strong supporters of the movement. Only 6% of Republican primary voters do so.
— The National Rifle Association drives one of the biggest wedges of all. Among Republican primary voters, 59% strongly support the NRA, while just 11% of Democratic primary voters are strong backers.
Republican primary voters put national security and terrorism at the top of their list of priorities for the government. Democratic primary voters put job creation and economic growth at the top of the priority list. About a third of Democrats say health care is a high priority; among Republicans, a comparable share worry about deficits and government spending.
Republicans are more likely to say they worry that the U.S. isn’t projecting a sufficiently tough image abroad; Democrats are more likely to say they think the U.S. should be focused on concerns at home.
When pollsters asked what voters are looking for in the next president, Republicans used terms like bold and a strong leader who could restore American strength abroad. Democrats were more likely to say they want a leader who is diplomatic and inclusive and who will preserve recent progressive gains.
These differences are why the country has two main political parties, of course, and they aren’t entirely new. But there is clear evidence that the ideological divides are bigger than they used to be.
That was shown starkly in a study by the Pew Research Center last year. Back in 1994, the study found, 70% of Democrats were more liberal than the median Republican, and 64% of Republicans were more conservative than the median Democrat. By last year, 94% of Democrats were more liberal than the median Republican, and 92% of Republicans were more conservative than the median Democrat.
There still is a political center, but those in the ideological center aren’t nearly as politically engaged as are those on the liberal or conservative flanks. In the center, it appears, disillusionment with the political system is taking its biggest toll.
In fact, increasing polarization seems to be creating a self-perpetuating downward cycle. On the left and right wings, the political paralysis created by the deepening ideological divide in Washington is generating anger. In the middle, it is creating disillusionment and apathy, diminishing the impact of those in the center and enhancing further the power of the ideological wings.
The Pew study concluded that “many of those in the center remain on the edges of the political playing field, relatively distant and disengaged, while the most ideologically oriented and politically rancorous Americans make their voices heard through greater participation in every stage of the political process.”
The effect of these trends is visible on the presidential campaign trail. On the Democratic side, Mrs. Clinton has moved away from some of the centrist tax and trade policies that once marked mainstream Democratic thinking. On the Republican side, Mr. Trump, hardly a movement conservative over the course of his peripatetic political history, now is trying to sound like one.
The challenge, though, comes after the primaries, when nominees have to try to activate that quiet political center for the general election—and when the next president has to do so to sell policies crafted by the next administration.