Facts At Your Fingertips
Electoral and Political Instability
We live in an age of electoral and political instability. For the past thirty years, political control of Congress and the presidency has alternated between the two parties with alarming frequency.
Rapid Change
Political parties function by simplifying problems for voters. But the issues that matter and motivate voters constantly change, and when they change rapidly, political parties fall out of sync with what voters want.
Economic and Demographic Changes
Our existing political instability is occurring because seismic economic and demographic changes are breaking apart existing voting blocs. This instability will continue until one party finds a dominant set of issues that attracts a winning coalition of voters.
Historical Instability
This isn’t the first time our system has experienced so much political instability. While the twentieth century was dominated by two periods of long, stable control, the late 1800s looked a lot like the modern era.
Stable Political Landscape
The path back to a stable political landscape will require party coalitions to address key issues like immigration, inequality, family and social breakdown, worker insecurity, automation, trade, the U.S. role in the world, and environmental challenges in a way that brings together a stable majority of voters.
Electoral Stability
Ultimately, the American people will decide which policy portfolios prevail – and whether they offer a return to electoral stability.