Congress is increasingly polarized

This builds off the power below about partisan polarization in approval of Obama. Congress is similarly polarized. This graph shows how the ideological differences between the parties have risen and fallen since the late 1800s. Note that the House is more polarized than the Senate.



Two commentators point out that our system is designed for compromise, and this is unlikely to occur given the polarized environment - which is unlikely to change any time soon. Even following the upcoming election, each party will have the ability to negate what the other attempts to do. More evidence for those who like to argue that Congress is broken.