Throughout this paper there will be a critical analysis for the following texts: “Culture War? Myth of a Polarized America,” “No Compromise: The Electoral Origins of Legislative Gridlock,” “The Big Sort: Migration, Community, and Politics in the United States of “Those People,” “Post Broadcast Democracy,” “Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State,” and finally “Is Polarization a Myth?” By analyzing these texts, I will be providing insight into the similarities and differences that come about based on my readings and research. I will also give arguments for the perspectives that I find most captivating in these texts and give reasons as to why I believe my arguments are valid. In “Culture War? Myth of a Polarized America” …show more content…
He blames the spreading of this myth on the politicians because they are the ones who are using it as political ammunition. Throughout the first chapter, Fiorina describes the rise and flow of the culture war idea. The culture war invades society from high-level politicians to every level of news media. He accuses them of exaggeration and lying, and believes that they all contributed to the spread of the culture war myth. He suggests that most Americans are bystanders in a war between activists on the right and the left. Fiorina gives three reasons for this myth being spread: “misinterpretation of election results, lack of comprehensive examination of public opinion data, and systematic and self-serving misrepresentation by issue activists and selective coverage by an uncritical media” (Fiorina 8). I really liked how he ended chapter one by outlining his argument so that in chapter two, it will continue to cover what he has gone over in chapter one and focus on certain points. Throughout chapter two, Fiorina discusses the question: if his hypothesis is correct, then why does everyone else think differently? Fiorina recognizes four factors that can shed …show more content…
Economic indicators, unemployment and inflation rates, provide evidence of polarization (Jacobsen 17). Certain factors, such as job approval, and economic approval, lead supporters to go in a different direction when it come to their evaluations of the president (Jacobsen 21). Polarization is evident when Democrats and Republicans have different responses to the same information about what is going on in the economy. It is easy to distinguish between different preferences because the Republicans care more about inflation than unemployment and polarization. Supporters have different responses, depending on the party that is in control of the current presidency. In “The Big Sort: Migration, Community, and Politics in the United States of “Those People,” B. Bishop and R. Cushing, try to define and argue the implications of the social and political break up that has swept across America over the last couple of years. Their sights are set on identifying an occurrence, and interpreting it for a certain types of people. Bishop is not examining a new concept, the list of divisions he recites is familiar. The two major political parties have become more extreme and cannot find common
...has a good chance of being probably true. Fiorina has argued that while people are closely divided they are not deeply so, and that the current divide is do to errors in information collection, media over exaggeration, and a polarized political class. There is no single issue right now for Americans to polarize around and our apparent polarization is because our vote is affected by church attendance and our lack of choices beyond standard red and blue. Fiorina believes that this state of affairs has allowed our political class to gain previously not enjoyed levels of control in the government and that the moderate majority needs to involve itself again to take back our democratic rights to govern ourselves.
But what she didn´t know was that she was caught in the crossfire of a culture war being waged be local evangelicals inspired by their high-profile congressional representative” this is comparable to the element in Filkins “Atonement”, “Lobello and his buddies were mobilized after the 9/11 attacks” Both pieces demonstrate the betrayal of the public’s trust in its government.
Harold E. Stearns’ Critique of American Culture in the Book, Civilization in the United States
Kernell, Samuel, Jacobson, Gary C., Kousser, Thad, & Vavreck, Lynn. 2014. The Logic of American Politics 6th ed. Los Angeles: CQ Press
In the article, “Multiculturalism: Battleground or Meeting Ground,” Takaki starts out addressing the difference in philosophy between him and Woodward when it comes to cultural diversity. Woodward strongly disagrees with Takaki when it comes to the topic of cultural diversity. They both are seeing issue threw two difference lens. Woodward attacked Takaki on the issue when Woodward reviewed Takaki’s “Iron Cages: Rave and Culture in Nineteeth-Century America” book in the “New York Review of Books,” saying it was too narrow in focus (Takaki, n.d). Woodward rebuttal was that the book did not contain any balance, and should have touched on “national issues” to have that balance and not just the American south. Woodward even said that Takaki was
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.
Woodard explains to his readers about this “cultural Cold War” and clash of cultures that is occurring internally throughout the nations. He labels it as an “internal civil war” that led people as far as physical violence. So now, not only do we, as a nation, still struggle as a whole with these essential freedoms, our individual pockets of people are also starting to crumble and fall apart. Historically, this was a low moment, culturally, for the United States. Our identity became much foggier. The few parts of our culture we might have thought to be solid or concrete, now collapsed from the inside
With Fiorina’s strong stance that polarization is not very extensive, I do not think that he would agree with Wilson’s argument of polarization. The two arguments directly conflict one another. However, Fiorina may agree with Judis’ article. He may agree that many of the Tea Party members are very disconnected with the moderate view of the general public.
In the text, “The American Cultural Configuration” the authors express the desire of anthropologists to study their own culture despite the difficulty that one faces attempting to subjectively analyze their own society. Holmes and Holmes (2002), use the adage “not being able to see the forest through the trees” (p. 5) to refer to how hard it is for someone to study something they have largely taken for granted. The Holmes' article focuses predominately on paradoxes within our own culture, many of which we don't notice. In a paradox, two contradicting statements can appear to be true at the same time. This essay looks at two paradoxes commonly found in everyday life: the individual versus the family and religion.
Cultural conflicts are the result of the animal instinct within humans to be the strongest and people's varying beliefs.
The idea of political culture is found within the state’s history. The history of the state is impacted by the people settled in the region, religious backgrounds, and geography. The history of the state influences the attitudes and beliefs that people hold regarding their political system. Daniel Elazar theorized a connection between the states’ history and attitude towards government by explaining differences in government between states. Every state is different with some common ground. Elazar’s theory divides states into three types: moralistic, traditionalistic and individualistic. The state’s constitution defines the powers of government with political culture bias. Because of the state constitution, the political culture influences the power and limitations of governors, legislative, and judiciaries.
Sometimes, though, even the most rabid political partisan might see it fit to break away from the party’s talking points and weave a narrative that might have the effect of causing supporters to flee. This deflection from
The voters that do make it to the polls however are influenced mostly by the
During the clash of any two cultures, there will always be disaccord in major ideologies and ways of thinking which eventually leads to reform or sometimes regression. Concepts of morality and cultural practices can create dissonance when there are opposing views, causing a shift in ethics in order to protect their original way of existence. At times, this conflict can birth efforts at positive social reconstruction, however during specific instances it causes severe destruction and loss of ethical direction. Both in the 16th and 19th century in the landscape of the New World, there was a plethora of contact that occurred between the Euro-Americans and Indigenous peoples that was an instigator in various conflicts as well as social and moral
The democratic government in place in the United States of America allows all Americans to have their say in what occurs in this country. Through the power of the vote, Americans can decide who they want to represent them in every level of the government. Getting elected, however, is not as easy as it sounds. It would reasonable to assume that a candidate would be elected to their position if they are more qualified than their opponents. This however is becoming less and less true. Nowadays, instead of always voting for the person who is the best at handling their prospective job, people are voting for candidates who handle themselves the best during the campaign. The candidate who is the most charismatic, funny, and outgoing is usually the person who is going to get elected. This is becoming particularly true in the case of many celebrities who have entered the field of politics. Although these people, who have gained fame in another field, are not as qualified for the job as others in the election, they find themselves capturing the majority of the vote anyway.