When the 115th Congress convenes on Tuesday, there are few indicators that might assuage those who believe that extreme partisanship on both sides of the aisle has rendered the nation’s two legislative chambers increasingly ineffectual in recent years.

A frequent refrain heard in D.C. is that members on opposite sides of the aisle no longer talk to each other, and thus members are less personally invested in striking deals with the other side.

Compounding the problem is the recent trend of fewer and fewer states being represented by more than one party in Congress – thus providing less opportunities for members to build bipartisan bridges even within a state delegation.