A theory about why America has become so partisan.

It's frequently stated that there are now two Americas, each only peripherally cognigent of the other's existance and views. It wasn't like this once, people say; and indeed, watching re-runs of Presidential debates from yesteryear, the point seems to be underlined. While there are probably as many theories as legitimate reasons why, I'd like to offer up a postulate.

The internet, which although it has roots stretching back decades, began to gain popularity with the invention of the web browser in the early 1990s, has revolutionized communications. This revolution does not just extend to our practice of communications; by expanding the possiblities available to us, the internet has expanded our expectations and ambitions in the realm of communication.

In the past, people who wanted to discuss politics we pretty much stuck with debating primarily the people around them in their community. This meant, to a great extent, you had to work with what you had; often, this would not have included people who mainly agreed with you. In such an environment, skills such as oratory, compromise and debate flourish, out of necessity. The community provides a crucible in whicih the more extreme, nonsensical or purely ideological ideas were burned out of potential politicians, and the politicians that emerged were therefore less deeply partisan, less deeply buried in ideology, and better able to work in a mindset conducive to bipartisan co-operation.

The internet, however, represents the triumph of affinity over geography. People now are not only able to, but expect to, converse primarily with people who hold similar views to their own. An Alaskan or Hoosier democrat can now converse freely with other democrats, as can a Chicagoan Republican. In this way, the public discourse (and resulting mindset) of today's potential politicians is very different to those of yesteryear. This division is closely represented in the ghettoization of the US House, where redistricting has virtually overwritten geography; Congressional Districts that might once have contained many diverse opinions have simply had their borders changed to include fewer dissenting voices, creating safe seats for each party. The two sides have dug in for a long war; once again, something that begins as an idea becomes a mindset, which - if held by sufficiently powerfull people - can be forcibly imposed on reality.

I make no claim that this is the sole cause of deepening partisan division in America; George Lakoff has made some hugely valid points about the failure of Repulbicans and Democrats to understand on a basic level the language spoken by their opposite numbers, and this can only have a detrimental effect on political discourse. But I think this posit is an interesting thought.