More Debates On the Filibuster and Polarization

The course of events in Congress this year have generated a robust debate over the evolution of the Senate filibuster into a routine 60-vote threshold. I've been debating this subject over at ProgressiveFix with former TDS Managing Editor Scott Winship. In the latest back-and-forth, Scott, who earlier argued that partisan polarization is a bigger obstacle to the enactment of legislation than the filibuster, takes on the proposition that polarization is a phenomenon created primarily by Republicans (hence there's not a lot Democrats can do about it other than beating Republicans like a drum in elections). My response focuses on a challenge to the perennial liberal-moderate-conservative typology of voter ideology--which invariably places the political "center" farther to the right than it actually is--and also expresses skepticism about Scott's preferred remedy to polarization of laws that open up party primaries. It's a lot of reading, but well worth the time if you are interested in this perennial topic.