There is little optimism that, in the wake of the election, relations between the two parties will improve. Just 22% of Americans who voted in November expect relations between Republicans and Democrats to get better in the coming year, 28% say they will get worse, while 48% say they will stay about the same as they are now. Two years ago, after the 2008 presidential election, 37% of voters expected partisan relations to improve and just 18% thought they would get worse. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.