And only one of our two political parties has given that faction a voice and allowed it to rule them. Republicans have found it quite profitable to do nothing and keep the country locked into its present state of affairs. The playing field is tilted in their favor, and they're playing it for all it's worth. The returns are diminishing, and their intransigent base is shrinking, but it's still the game they want to play. They make unrealistic promises (outlaw abortion, make same-sex marriage illegal again, return prayer to public schools) and gin up the fear and the blame to keep their base engaged, but some of them have figured out the scam that's being run.
I really didn't think the Republicans could stick it out the way they have, but I was quite wrong. The leadership knows that any compromise is death for their careers. They have made it an article of Republican faith that government isn't the solution to any problem, can't be used to better society for more citizens, and that any attempt to do so will fail. They're locked into that position.
California provided the road map for how this dead end strategy plays out: Republican participation in state government there is practically non-existent. They can see it, but they refuse to do anything else, lest their governing philosophy of the last 40 years be called into question. Their authoritarian bent won't admit to error or even uncertainty. Democrats have offered half measures and compromise over and over in the last six years, but it's been futile to negotiate with a party that won't budge on anything.
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