Republicans are Not Wannabe Democrats: What polarization really means

Republicans are not closet Democrats.  Slowly Governor Walz and the Minnesota DFL may or may not be learning this point.  What is the case is that what polarization means is that the two parties disagree not only on policy issues, but perhaps more fundamentally on the goals and purposes of government, with such difference not easy to bridge.
Too often Democrats seem to lament or exasperate to the effect of “When will Republicans come around and recognize the need to spend more on education, health care, or infrastructure?”   Or recently one Democrat opined “I will give Republicans one more chance to go along with spending more on roads and schools.”  Both of these sentiments naively assume that Republicans  share the same basic values, priorities, or view of government and eventually they will come along to the views held by Democrats or else.  Or else what?  What will compel them to agree with Democrats?  This is the problem Governor Walz and the DFL House is facing now.  “We won, we have the majority, you know we are right, you have to or will eventually go along with us at some point.  It’s inevitable.”
Such a belief is like waiting for Godot.  It may never happen.  Such a sentiment is premised on the idea that there is a basic consensus on certain things when in reality what polarization has come to mean is a breakdown on this agreement.
What does polarization mean?  Think of political consensus along five dimensions at least.  When James Madison and our Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution they were interested in a first-order question–Why government?  This is a question about the necessity of government and its most fundamental role in our lives.
A second-order question investigates the specific functions of government, asking not “Why government?” but “What should government’s do?”  This question looks to specific functions or tasks to be performed by the government. A third-level question is about ideology, querying “What values or interests should a government promote?” This level  looks to how majority preferences are translated into public policy or how the public interest is defined.  Finally, there are fourth and fifth levels the former investigating “What public administrators should do?” and the latter asking questions such as “How can public organizations or policies perform more efficiently?” 
Perhaps two generations ago there was broad consensus on the first and second-order questions.  In a Cold War era there was basic consensus supporting the welfare state and fighting communism.  There was arguably even significant overlapping consensus on third-order questions regarding what interests government should promote or what constitutes the public interest.  During this time the Republican and Democratic parties were ideologically diverse, with both containing  liberals, moderates and conservatives.  At one point in Minnesota a pro-life Democrat Rudy Perpich  and a pro-choice Republican Arne Carlson could be governors.  Those days are gone.
Where we are now is little consensus on third-order issues and increasing even on second and first-order views on government.  Partisan differences on the validity or legitimacy of the Electoral College attest to the depth of the partisan disagreement in the US, going to the very structures of how our political system is designed.
Republicans and Democrats are exasperated with one another and know the US is polarized.  Look to every major poll on the president, social issues, taxes, and other matters and the partisan split is significant.  Yet both sides seem convinced they are correct, the other side wrong, and if the other party simply came to its senses it would see their folly and the wisdom of the other side.
Slowly, but not quite yet, this is where Walz and the DFL are now in Minnesota.  It was entirely foreseeable after last November’ election Minnesota was headed to the stalemate they are in now.  Republican and Democratic Party priorities are far apart and there is little incentive for either side to compromise.  In fact, the polarization in Minnesota–like so much of the US–is geographic, and there are few regions or voters who swing.  Political attitudes have hardened and so have the constituencies and interest groups that support them.  US and Minnesota political institutions were premised on a belief of shared values across many levels, with legislation only possible with consensus or worse now, one party dominance in a winner-take-all approach to governing.
This is what polarization is really about now.