Along with — and because of — dramatic social and demographic changes, America is quickly dividing itself into two separate nations, regional enclaves of rigid politics, as the idea of common national priorities fades further into a distant past.

Rich Morin, a senior editor at the Pew Research Center, wrote about a new study on public opinion on Wednesday and found that:

“Americans often say they want their representatives in Congress to put the country’s needs over local concerns. But four novel experiments suggest that the public does just the opposite.”

He continued:

“Respondents rated a member of Congress far more favorably if the lawmaker put the interests of his or her district or state over those of the country as a whole.”

He concluded, in part, with this damning line:

“The study’s author says legislators who ‘nobly’ put national preferences ahead of local ones will be punished by constituents.”