Reducing bipartisanship: Evidence from Former Members of US Congress

There are strong electoral disincentives from both voters and colleagues in US House, deterring bipartisanship. This is an important consideration, of the systemic, endogenous factors in increasing partisanship. Using interviews from Former Members of Congress (FMCs), I find evidence of these endogenous factors, in which feedback from the electorate (i) and congressional colleagues (ii) deters congressional members from engaging in partisan relationships with congressional colleagues. Other factors including the media echo chamber effect are at play (Fox News, talk radio), suggesting some degree of top-down and feedback loop effects. However, here I want to focus on the social incentives and interpersonal dynamics that create group norms, that increasingly deter cross-party, intergroup cooperation. The implications of this are that democratic mechanisms (electoral incentives, party dynamics) drive this systemic dysfunction. As well as having insights for US politics, this has implications for democratic theory, and the role of feedback mechanisms in democratic dysfunction, as well as the power of the voter to indirectly enact change in the political culture and norms, as well as those of party peers and party culture.