Divided Nation: Analyzing Policy, Behavior, and Institutional Challenges in Modern American Democracy

In recent decades, US politics has become increasingly fraught and divided. This book evaluates the current state of American democracy, centered on the theme of polarization and dysfunction, through key policy, behavioral, and institutional issues. These dynamics and debates include increasing partisanship, declining public trust in institutions, the nationalization of politics, politicization of media and the Courts, outside interests’ influence in Congress, election administration, and more. Authored by an expert group of contributors working at the cutting edge of political science research, this volume provides in-depth analysis of the causes, mechanisms, and consequences of these problems, and offers possible solutions to them.

Jamie L. Carson is the UGA Athletic Association Professor of Public & International Affairs II in the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia. His most recent books are Nationalized Politics: Evaluating Electoral Politics Across Time (2024) and The Politics of Congressional Elections (2024; 11th edition).

Ryan D. Williamson is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming. He received his doctorate from the University of Georgia and his undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He previous served as an APSA Congressional Fellow in the US Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and as a governance fellow with the R Street Institute. He is co-author of Nationalized Politics: Evaluating Electoral Politics Across Time (2024).