It's What is on the Inside that Matters

George Packer wrote a great article detailing how the internal rules of the Senate allow a minority to obstruct everything in that body. In his analysis, Packer overlooks one major issue that causes the Senate to behave the way it does.

The external political world that sends senators to Washington has changed. The greater political world is more polarized then it was a few decades ago and the two parties are now aligned based on their ideologies. The problem with the Senate is not that senators are a mediocre bunch or that they are more partisan then in the past. The problem with the Senate is the world outside has changed and the Senate has not adjusted it's internal rules and norms to reflect that change.