"We live in a time of hyper political polarization that makes governing extremely difficult. How did we get here? In this book Byron Shafer explores American politics from 1932 to the present to understand the underlying patterns of American politics and how changes in these patterns have affected policymaking. He divides American politics since 1932 into four periods. He argues that American politics during this time can be examined by looking at changes in the balance between the political parties; ideological polarization (or the distance on policy issues between contending forces); and substantive conflict over policy. These are set in the context of external demands for government action (i.e. depression, war, civil rights) as well as the institutions of American government (separation of powers and federalism) that structure how groups compete over government policy"--