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A Not So 50:50 Nation Culture Wars? The Myth of a Polarized America: Book Review The book Culture Wars? The Myth of a Polarized America by Morris P. Fiorina, Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope is a persuasive text regarding America and its division on political topics. In chapter one, Fiorina begins with a powerful quote from Pat Buchanan’s 1992 speech at the Republican National Convention, “There is a religious war…a cultural war as critical to the…nation…as the cold war…for this war is for the soul of America” (Fiorina et al. 1). Using several other quotes, he illustrates the belief that the nation is torn between personal morals and extreme conservative notions. He then states his belief that these sentiments are complete nonsense, …show more content…
Furthermore, he introduces the idea that popular polarization is different from partisan polarization and that sorting has occurred within the parties. Meaning that “those who affiliate with a party… are more likely to affiliate with the ideologically ‘correct’ party than they were [before]” (Fiorina et al. 61). To illustrate the concept of polarization he uses a figure with marble filled urns. These urns depict red blue and gray marbles with r for republican d for democrat and i for independent. When polarization, all gray independent marbles disappear becoming either red or blue. In the example of sorting the first urn has blue d and r marbles, gray i marbles and red d and r marbles. When sorting occurs, r marbles are all red and the d marbles are all blue and the gray i marbles remain in the middle. The proportions remain essentially the same, however appearing more polarized. This is what the author believes has occurred in America, especially in the southern states and now individuals disregard where they live and choose based on who they are. He continues with the idea that Americans have both traditional and modern values. Polarization can be subjective, however American polarization around religious and moral issues is
Increasingly over the past two decades and in part thanks to the publication of James Davison Hunter’s book, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, the idea of a culture war in American politics has been gaining attention. While the tension between conservatives and liberals is palpable, it’s intensity has proven hard to measure. However, it doesn’t seem that many Americans are polarized on the topic of polarization as most would agree that the culture war is real (Fiorina, 2005). This thinking is what prompted Morris Fiorina to write the book Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. In it, Fiorina outlines an argument against the idea of a culture war by looking at party affiliation by states, how public opinion on hot button issues changed over time and various explanations for why Americans are so hung up on the topic of polarization. While Fiorina makes a good argument, the evidence supporting the culture war is too powerful to explain away.
Many studies try to measure political culture within states, but some political scientists are wary of assigning state political cultures because such measurements may be of dubious empirical grounding. While the process may not be entirely empirically sound, different state political cultures seem to exist and demand further analysis. In 1966, Daniel Elazar published his now famous assessment of United States’ political cultures. His evaluation of state cultures has been the focus of much study and criticism over the past three decades. Elazar proposes that the political culture in the United States developed in different regions due to east to west migratory patterns moving across the continent. Patterns of political culture were established during the Western frontier migration, as individuals followed “lines of least resistance which generally led them due west from the immediately previous area of settlement” (Elazar, 1966: 99). As a result, like-minded individuals migrated together and stayed together, causing similar political ideology to transform into a dominant political culture (Elazar, 1994).
In Sinclair’s analysis, voters, political activists, and politicians all play significant roles in creating and enforcing the ideological gap between the two major parties in Congress. This trend of polarization is rooted in the electorate
Americans have embraced debate since before we were a country. The idea that we would provide reasoned support for any position that we took is what made us different from the English king. Our love of debate came from the old country, and embedded itself in our culture as a defining value. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that the affinity for debate is still strong, and finds itself as a regular feature of the mainstream media. However, if Deborah Tannen of the New York Times is correct, our understanding of what it means to argue may be very different from what it once was; a “culture of critique” has developed within our media, and it relies on the exclusive opposition of two conflicting positions (Tannen). In her 1994 editorial, titled “The Triumph of the Yell”, Tannen claims that journalists, politicians and academics treat public discourse as an argument. Furthermore, she attempts to persuade her readers that this posturing of argument as a conflict leads to a battle, not a debate, and that we would be able to communicate the truth if this culture were not interfering. This paper will discuss the rhetorical strategies that Tannen utilizes, outline the support given in her editorial, and why her argument is less convincing than it should be.
The United States of America has engaged in the battle known as political polarization since before its foundation in 1776. From the uprising against the powerful British nation to the political issues of today, Americans continue to debate about proper ideology and attempt to choose a side that closely aligns with their personal beliefs. From decade to decade, Americans struggle to determine a proper course of action regarding the country as a whole and will often become divided on important issues. Conflicts between supporters of slavery and abolitionists, between agriculturalists and industrialists, and between industrial workers and capitalists have fueled the divide. At the Congressional level there tends to be a more prevalent display of polarization and is often the blame of Congress’ inefficiency. James Madison intentionally designed Congress to be inefficient by instating a bicameral legislation. Ambition would counter ambition and prevent majority tyranny. George Washington advised against political parties that would contribute to polarization and misrepresentation in his Farewell Address of 1796. Washington warns, “One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts.” Today, the struggle to increase power between political parties results in techniques to gain even the smallest marginal gains. To truly understand political polarization, we must examine data collected through a variety of means, the effects of rapidly changing technology, and observe what techniques are used to create such a polarized political system.
middle of paper ... ... The culture war in America is always in view for the population. So much time is focused on the issue at hand instead of the actual progress being made. Moral differences between parties take preference over solving the issue.
Kramnick, Isaac and Lowi, Theory, J. American Political Thought: A Norton Anthology. W. W. Norton, 2000.
Kallen, Stuart . A Cultural History of the United States through the Decades: The 1950's . San Diego, CA: Lucent books, Inc. , 1999. Print.
James Wilson’s article, “How Divided are We?”, attempts to convince the reader that there is polarization (a culture war) in the United States. Wilson does not define polarization by partisan disagreements solely, rather as “an intense commitment to a candidate, a culture, or an ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from people in another, rival group” (Canon 205). This polarization stretches to the extent that one group’s set of beliefs is totally correct and the rival is wholly wrong (Canon 206). Wilson provides three chief factors for the growth of polarization...
In America, the existence of so many different cultures and religions can inadvertently cause one religion to impose its values upon another religion. In Grace Paley’s “The Loudest Voice”, however, the school system directly imposed Christianity onto Shirley Abramowitz and other non-Christian students in the school. Teachers in the school tried to enforce Christianity onto the non-Christian children whenever and whichever way possible. The major illustration of this attempt of “brainwashing” was the production of a Christmas play performed mostly by Jewish students. This was an obvious attempt by the school to try to force the other students to learn the value and history of the Christian religion.
Elazar, Daniel. "Explaining Policy Differences Using Political Culture." Reading. West Texas A&M University. Political Culture Handout. Dr. Dave Rausch, Teel Bivins Professor of Political Science. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. < http://www.wtamu.edu/~jrausch/polcul.html.>
Marc Howard Ross’s chapter on importance of culture in comparative politics in the Comparative Politics text is a comprehensive and important example of scholarship on culture in comparative politics. The chapter provides an overarching argument for how culture play a crucial role in explanation of politics. It focus on three important elements. Frist, How people uses culture to define meaning. Second, culture is the foundation of social and political identity which affects individual and collective behavior. Third, to a larger degree discusses methodological approaches in cultural studies as well as reports on the advances made in cultural analysis of politics by historically reviewing the cultural studies of politics.
Political culture can be defined as a list of ideas which people share and discuss. The topics that are mostly discuss are who should govern, at what degree, and how. The question of what is right and what is wrong is key component as it builds the foundation of political culture. The makeup of political culture in the United States rests on the belief the people should have the basic rights of life, liberty, and property. Political culture or opinion is what shaped this country the way it is today by changing the government to be fair and to govern with popular sovereignty. Three examples of how political culture helps to unite Americans are amendments, voting, and political parties.
Political culture is the zeitgeist of a population in regards to how their government should function, and what its purpose is. It is rather difficult for me to try to explain what it means to be American as it is quite ambiguous. While we as citizens enjoy many privileges that so many around the globe are bereft of, it is hard not to focus on the shortcomings of our nation, once you become aware of them. Growing up I always associated being an American citizens with the American dream. I believed firmly in the tenets of this notion; that through hard work and dedication anyone could achieve self-actualization. While this is certainly still possible, in my opinion is has become egregiously difficult, especially for the younger demographic.
Americanization: Americanization is the process of creating a heterogeneous culture within the United States. The term changes in meaning to accommodate its purpose. It has been used in the past to describe the shift in the English language used in the United States in contrast to its use in England. Now it is associated to the assimilation of immigrants in America.