The Political Division of the United States

There is much debate in the United States regarding whether there is polarization between our two dominant political parties. Presidential election results have shown that there is a division between the states, a battle between the Democratic blue states and the Republican red states. What is striking is that the “colors” of these states do not change. Red stays red, and blue stays blue. Chapter 11 of Fault Lines gives differing views of polarization. James Wilson, a political science professor at Pepperdine University in California, suggests that polarization is indeed relevant in modern society and that it will eventually cause the downfall of America. In contrast, Morris Fiorina, a political science professor at Stanford University, argues that polarization is nothing but a myth, something that Americans should not be concerned with. John Judis, a senior editor at The New Republic, gives insight into a driving force of polarization, the Tea Party Movement. Through this paper, I will highlight the chief factors given by Wilson and Judis that contribute to polarization in the United States and consider what factors Fiorina may agree with.
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.
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 with one another. However, Fiorina may agree with Judis’ article. He may agree that many of the Tea Party members are very disconnected from the moderate view of the general public. In conclusion, I believe that polarization exists in the United States. I agree with many of the points that Wilson brings up in his article, as stated previously. The gap between liberals and conservatives is getting wider and wider, leaving nowhere for those with moderate views to be in the mix. Polarization is detrimental to our two-party dominated republic, and it is difficult to determine what may fix our political system.