No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures
By Seth Masket
University of Michigan Press, 2009
No Middle Ground explains how moderates have been left out of politics. “Activists, donors and a few key office-holders work together to pick candidates they like and give those candidates real advantages,” says Masket. “The candidates they don’t like, most of whom are moderates, get frozen out.” Masket explores this theory in-depth with the California Legislature. In the book, interviews with local political players shed light on the coordination that occurs before primaries. The book also explains why more Republican members of Congress have not voted for President Obama’s agenda, despite his popularity.