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I'm not sure it always has been. I think a lot of the US political institutions were created in a time before bipartisanship reigned.
And because those days are viewed so fondly with regards to politics, no one wants to change the institutions which have stopped serving their purpose in the meantime.
tbc-
I'm not sure it always has been. I think a lot of the US political institutions were created in a time before bipartisanship reigned.
I don't think there ever was such a time. From the point of its birth, though, no one person or group/class ever had full control of the U.S. In that situation, politicians suddenly find virtue in concepts like separation of powers, because it stops their rivals from becoming too powerful and let's them look like defenders of democracy while they work to frustrate those rivals Which is possibly the best argument for such concepts.
It's a bit like the largely secular basis of U.S. government. America is full of religious fanatics who would love to run a theocracy but they're worried that a rival bigot would get there first, so they tolerate secular government.
itsbruce
No it always has been. Even at a local level judges are elected.
Remember that supreme court justices must receive Congressional and Senate approval. Many nomineees have been knocked out of contention by the legislature.