The political paralysis in Washington is often ascribed, depending on partisanship, to Republican obstructionism or President Barack Obama¡¯s arrogance. But there are deeper causes. Both parties have had a hard time creating agendas that appeal across ideological, racial and ethnic lines.
There has been a fragmentation of power and purpose that transcends the defects of political leaders.
A partial explanation comes in a report issued last month that describes the changing nature of the American electorate. It¡¯s less white, more minority, older and less dominated by any one generation. Fascinating in their own right, these shifts also illuminate the larger origins of the political impasse.
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