The Great Divide: Political Polarization and the U.S. Farm Bill

Scholars have long noted the trend toward increased political polarization in the U.S. Congress. This paper examines the U.S. Farm Bill in connection with polarization theories. Polarization due to changing ideologies of individual congressmen, the reshaping of districts, and the reorientation of the public affects business in Washington. This paper also discusses the impact of polarization on support for the welfare state, specifically in regard to the Farm Bill and the SNAP program. A reshaped Congress, due to a dramatic shift toward hyper-partisanship, creates friction within the legislative process, heightening differences on partisan issues like welfare spending. To measure the impact of polarization on legislation, specifically the U.S. Farm Bill, this paper tracks House final passage support for each fiveyear farm bill beginning in 1965. The voting results are compared to DW-Nominate Scores of the same period in order to determine what role political polarization plays in the legislative process. Comparing House final passage voting and DW-Nominate Scores provides a quantitative measure of polarization and its effects on legislation, both before and after the supposed spike in broad-based polarization beginning in the 1980s.