Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent

An immensely readable and cojent presentation of how the conservative and progressive movements in the US have gotten to where they are today. Dionne begins by describing the nature of the extreme polarization we all feel in modern politics and then takes us back to the years immediately following the adoption of the US Constitution to show the roots of conflict which have always been a part of our history - primarily the struggle to balance an individualism unique to American culture with a strong committment to community and duty to the Union. Our Divided Political Heart focuses especially on the 20th century, and the "Long Consensus" which led to a relatively stable political and economic reality supportive of the rise of the show more American Century.

If you have not spent any time exploring these subjects, the introductory chapter alone will be a real eye-opener, and will provide the reader with a much healthier understanding of what's going on in modern politics. If it does fire you up enough to read on (as it should), you will be rewarded with both a solid overview of the ebb and flow of consensus and polarization as the US has struggled for balance, and enough historical detail to allow the reader to accept or reject Dionne's conclusions. Either way, you will better understand the 'other'.

Written with a healthy respect for the importance of (and the need for) both conservatism and progressivism in a healthy republic, Our Divided Heart will either arm the moderate liberal with a greater understanding to support opposition to an increasingly aggressive conservatism, or provide the moderate or radical conservative with a better understanding of where those crazy liberals are coming from, and why we need them.

Must read for anyone with an interest in current US politics and its place in political history, regardless of where one resides on the political spectrum.

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Sad commentary on the political state of affairs we are in and will likely be in for a very long time. Dionne rightly (in my opinion) identifies the culprits responsible for the polarization, but also writes a strong backdrop of how we got here and tries to set right the distortions of the hijackers of our historical memory.

I do not think we will see consensus in our lifetimes. This reinforces that fear.