Written by Clancey Cheeley
Why are we so divided as a nation? What happened to bipartisan politics? When did political parties start acting like rival sports teams instead of people dedicated to improving the nation? These are questions that have likely crossed the mind of anyone who has been following politics in recent years. New York Times columnist Michael Tomasky attempts to answer these questions and provide possible solutions in his book If We Can Keep it and succeeds to vary degrees.
If We Can Keep it was not the book I expected. I thought that Tomasky’s work would focus primarily on modern politics and solutions to the polarization of our current political climate; what I got was a deep and thorough look at the history of American political parties. One of the striking revelations was that while many believe that Americans are more politically divided than ever before, this is not actually the case. The good-will bipartisan era of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s were not the ideal default state of politics that we have strayed from in the modern era but, in fact, an anomaly in the history of American politics brought on by the aftermath of World War II.
Tomasky does an excellent job of explaining the evolution of political parties and his book serves as a comprehensive overview; however, I would have liked to see more emphasis placed on the possible solutions to political polarization. Spending 85% of If We Can Keep It covering, not always relevant, political history made it feel like Tomasky was padding out the book’s length because he did not have as much content for the solutions portion. Overall, If We Can Keep It does a remarkable job bringing to light the history that has led to our divided political climate and offers plausible ways to heal the divisions that have become ingrained into the political lives of all Americans.
Comments