Excellent Economist article considering the Ornstein/Mann book, "Even Worse Than It Looks," and Norquist's "Debacle".

http://www.economist.com/node/21553449

This diagnosis has become commonplace since the tea-tainted tide that swept a stroppy Republican majority into the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections of 2010, bringing on said gridlock. Indeed, Messrs Mann and Ornstein spotted the trend in an earlier book about Congress, “The Broken Branch”, in 2006. The added twist now is their claim that the Republican Party has become “an insurgent outlier—ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”


If you're not familiar with Norquist see here for an excellent analysis of his influence which has been great over the last few years but perhaps in decline since the fiscal cliff deal.