Why This Is Not Just \'Washington Dysfunction,\' in 1 More Graph

Congressional Democrats are slightly more liberal than their historic norm; congressional Republicans are more conservative than at any other time on record. Republicans are more conservative when their line goes up; Democrats, more liberal when their lines go down. Then starting in the late 1970s - about the time Nixon's "Southern Strategy" was kicking in, and the South switched from being the Democrats' stronghold to the Republicans' - House Republicans became dramatically more conservative. The trend is this: in both the House and the Senate, Democrats are slightly more liberal than their historic norm, and Republicans are significantly more conservative than at any other time on record.

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