  We propose a novel approach to the problem of polarizabilities and
dissociation in electric fields from the static limit of the Vignale-Kohn (VK)
functional. We consider the response to the purely scalar part of the VK
response potential.This potential has ground-state properties that notably
improve over the full VK response density and over usual (semi-)local
functionals. The correct qualitative behavior of our potentials means that it
is expected to work well for polarizabilities in cases such as the H$_2$ chain,
and it will also correctly dissociate open-shell fragments in a field.
