Jonathan Bernstein: “One cause is a structural bias that winds up favoring bad candidates. In normal political parties, including the Republicans up through the 1990s or so, most key actors have overwhelming incentives to win elections. Politicians have their careers on the line, not only in their own election campaigns but in those who share the party brand with them. Party-aligned interest groups typically care deeply about policy goals they can only achieve by winning elections; governing professionals want to be in government, not on the sidelines. Campaign professionals build reputations by winning, not losing.”
“But as Republicans have become dominated by party-aligned media — from Fox News to right-wing websites to conservative talk radio — the electoral incentive has eroded. The media outlets themselves have perverse incentives, because they thrive by having Democrats in office. Ratings go up. More books are sold. While conservative media outlets in all likelihood don’t want Republicans to lose, they might be less motivated than traditional political participants to see Republicans win.”
