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Polarization in America: The Congress and the Public

The American Congress has reached historic levels of polarization. How does it compare to the public? Using the 113th Congress, this visualization compares polarization among politicians with that among the public. While party identifiers in the public have clearly separated into two ideological camps, there is much greater overlap between them than between the parties in Congress. Moreover, a substantial number of non-partisans exist in the middle of the public ideological spectrum

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Polarization in Congress: A Growing Parisan Divide in the House and Senate

How has does polarization in the modern US Congress compare to the past? Using the period of 1945-2012, this visualization depicts the mean ideology of parties in Congress across time in both the House and the Senate as well as a measure of the difference between the parties. This trend has emerged since the late 1970s and reached a peak in recent years. This stands in contrast to the previous period, where the differences between the parties were less stark.