It is ironic that the 113th Congress is the most diverse in history, but also the most divisive and partisan in more than a century, which does not bode well for any future cooperation or progress on the important issues facing the nation!
96 women, 42 African Americans, and 31 Hispanics serve in Congress, but the vast majority are Democrats!
Partisan polarization is endemic, however, more than in the past century or more, probably back to the Civil War-Reconstruction period!
Of course, we have never had a Congress, except in the 112th Congress and this one, in which there has been a Republican House of Representatives and a Democratic Senate, and only five other Congresses since 1900 in which there has been a Democratic House of Representatives and a Republican Senate, with those occasions (1911-1913, 1931-1933, 1981-1987) being much more cooperative and accomplished by comparison to the past two and a half years since the beginning of 2011!
Party unity in the House is now 72.8 percent, while in 2006, it was 54.5 percent!
Less than 50 percent of the time do we see Republicans supportive of the President’s agenda, an extremely low level historically!
Regional loyalty to a party is extreme, particularly in the Northeast, New England and Pacific Coast for Democrats, and in the South and Great Plains for Republicans.
The likelihood of any major change in this scenario is gloomy, sadly for the nation’s future!