The increased polarisation of US politics is a major factor behind the shutdown, says political columnist Niall Stanage.
Stanage, White House columnist at The Hill, said Republicans and Democrats are both becoming less conciliatory and embracing confrontation.
“The thing that’s behind it is the two parties becoming more and more far apart in general, and more willing to embrace confrontational approaches,” he told Al Jazeera.
“Basically, American politics has become much more polarised and the political incentives for both parties have become much more acute in relation to being confrontational with the other side.”
He continued: “Now there’s really not very much incentive at all to accommodate the other side, to be conciliatory, and I think that drive toward a harder-edged approach is why we’re seeing the greater frequency of shutdowns.”
