It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism

Hyperpartisanship has gridlocked the American government. Congress's approval ratings are at record lows, and both Democrats and Republicans are disgusted by the government's inability to get anything done. In It's Even Worse Than It Looks, renowned scholars Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein present a grim picture of how party polarization and tribal politics have led Congress -- and the United States -- to the brink of institutional failure.

In this revised edition, the authors update their seminal book to take stock of the ever-worsening political situation. The underlying dynamics -- extremist Republicans holding government hostage to their own ideological, anti-government beliefs -- have only gotten worse, further bolstering their argument that Republicans are not merely ideologically different from Democrats, but engaged in a unique form of politics that undermines the system itself.