The second civil war : how extreme partisanship has paralyzed Washington and polarized America / Ronald Brownstein.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [463]-467) and index.

America divided -- The age of partisan armies -- The age of bargaining -- The age of transition -- The age of transition II : the rise of hyperpartisanship -- The great sorting out -- The president of half of America -- The 51percent solution : Republican strategy in the Bush years -- The opposition in an age of polarization -- Beyond division.

An epic, shrewd big-picture analysis of the forces that have made this era in American politics as divisive and bitterly partisan as any since the Civil War. Journalist Brownstein diagnoses the electoral, demographic, and institutional forces that have brought such change over the American political landscape, pulling politics to the margins and leaving precious little common ground for compromise. Displaying the deep historical perspective for which he is noted, Brownstein begins with a history of the evolving climate for partisanship since the dawn of the modern political era in 1896, presenting a reinterpretation of American politics and the personalities who have shaped it since Theodore Roosevelt. Offering both sweeping analysis and intimate detail, Brownstein captures the currents that have led to today's dangerous impasse, and ends with a menu of clear and compelling ways out of our collective dilemma.--From publisher description.