Divided We Stand? David Brady on America’s “New Electoral Instability”

How did America go from relative political stability in the postwar era—one party controlling Congress for the better part of four decades leading up to 1994—to the past three decades of revolving-door majorities on Capitol Hill and increasing partisan bitterness in our political discourse? David W. Brady, a renowned political scientist and the Hoover Institution’s Davies Family Senior Fellow, Emeritus, explains why in his latest book, From Dominance to Parity: America’s Political Parties and the New Era of Electoral Instability. Among the topics discussed: how the Roosevelt and Reagan landslides scrambled America’s voting blocs; why the 2008 Obama landslide wasn’t as transformational; the many dimensions of partisan shift (gender, age, income and education); the possibility of old-school moderate Democrats and Republicans repopulating the political landscape, or hyper-partisanship continuing to dominate future elections.

 

Recorded on January 12, 2026.