Standoff: How America Became Ungovernable

Schneider (The Confidence Gap), a George Mason professor of policy and government, explores the widening gap between America’s two political parties, from the 1960s through the election of Donald Trump, in this fast-paced but disappointing book. Staying on the national level, he emphasizes that “today presidential elections lead; state and local elections follow.” The book is best in its first chapters, which consist of standalone essays on topics such as populism, healthcare reform, and public opinion, before shifting gears into analyses of successful and unsuccessful attempts to shift party power during presidential elections. Examples of the successful include the historic victories of Kennedy in 1960 and Obama in 2008; examples of the unsuccessful include the defeats of Barry Goldwater in 1964 and Mitt Romney in 2012. Schneider concludes by looking at how Donald Trump broke “all the rules for a presidential candidate.” These chapters move apace through history and political issues, providing only bare-bones context. Many of the observations sound intriguing, but demand deeper examination than they get (“The great disconnect in American politics today is between public opinion, which longs for unity, and politics, which thrives on division”). The best of Schneider’s insights provoke thought, but readers will come to the end of his book still not knowing “how America became ungovernable.” Agent: Rick Broadhead, Rick Broadhead & Assoc. (May)