Here’s How This Shutdown Was Different Than Others

News Analysis The recent 43-day government shutdown—the longest in U.S. history—resulted not from an impasse over a piece of legislation but from the deepening political divide in the country that has left politicians and voters alike spoiling for a fight, some experts say. That polarization has been evident for some time, but it has grown in recent years, according to a study Gallup released this year. Political moderates, once the largest ideological group, have diminished in number for decades, Gallup found. Meanwhile, the number of Americans describing themselves as “very conservative” and “very liberal” has increased. Here’s how that divide reshaped the politics of political shutdowns to produce the longest and most costly federal government shutdown in history....