Political polarisation in the US - Part 1: How real is the problem?

America is our great and powerful friend so it matters a great deal how reliable our firmest strategic partner is. Is the US heading for a degree of political dysfunction that could blow back into its steadfastness as a leading player and an Australian ally in a multipolar Indo-Pacific?

The long hand of history: Political Polarisation in the US- Part 2

We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government, everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrats traitorous America Last policies, we are done. So said Marjorie Taylor Greene in a tweet in February this year. Greene is a Republican Member of Congress and could be running mate for Donald Trump.

Political Polarisation in the US- Part 3: Causes

One of the great claims for representative democracy and federations is that they provide a uniquely successful way of dynamically negotiating, rather than suppressing, social differences and tensions. So, when it appears to be failing to do that in one of the worlds oldest and most successful democracies it is worth asking why has this happened?

A descent into violence? Political polarisation in the US- Part 4

Can the United States avoid a descent into political violence? Of the 52 cases where countries reached the levels of polarisation which now exist in the US, half had their status as democracies downgraded. The US is the only Western democracy to have sustained such intense polarisation over such an extended period. It really is in uncharted territory.

Avoiding the same fate: Political Polarisation in the US Part 5

Australia must carefully monitor US domestic developments as a barometer of longer term risks to the reliability of our great and powerful friend, and to avoid being drawn into a US war against China. But the biggest lesson from the political polarisation in the US is that it is better to have lower overall economic growth but sustain a fairer society, than to go for broke while impoverishing ordinary citizens. The price of failing to do that is the risk of bitter polarisation, political violence, and democratic tensions.