Donald Trump Polarization

The New York Times columnist David Brooks calls it “the greatest political shock of our lifetime.” At the end of August, it seemed as though Donald Trump was destined to fail in his bid to become the 45th President of the United States. After months of new revelations of sexual harassments and use of vulgar language, spectators of the political sport were almost certain that Secretary Clinton would win, and then that fateful day came. Everyone, including some of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters were shocked at the outcome of the election, leaving many to ask how such a thing could happen. While still shocking, ideas and concepts learned in the Election the President seminar have helped to explain the process, the results, and even the candidates themselves.

Donald Trump before he became the 45th president, his famous campaign motto “Make America Great Again” caught the attention of many Americans, but mostly by white Americans. Trump’s tactics made him a very clever man throughout the election, he had many techniques on how to gain the American vote. Throughout his campaign, he was attentive of the men around him. For example, Trump knew exactly what to say to get the attention of the American people. He already had in mind who he was going to pick in position for foreign policy, national security, and defense (“Donald Trump is the ultimate Machiavellian prince”). With this intention, he brought comfort to Americans, yet the people he was going to pick for these positions all have a common trait, which was all of them are specialist in the Middle East and Russia. Not only, was Trump attentive of America, yet he kept in mind how it was going to affect

The growing ideological gap between the United States’ two major political parties, in other words, rising levels of political polarization, has had a negative impact on American politics as it results in Congressional inefficient, public apathy, and economic inequality.

Increased shifts to the political extremes causes voters to vote in lockstep with party leaders. Polarized voters are less informed on energy, healthcare, education, and other key issues4. Polarized voters also ignore fundamental arguments in favor of partisanship. When told that their party endorsed a certain stance, the polarized voters became more supportive, regardless of facts. Because the election process requires

On November 8, 2016 the US election took place. The two front runners, the Democratic nominee Hilary Clinton and the Republican nominee, Donald Trump went neck to neck in the presidential race. On this frightening night, millions of people watched America’s worst nightmare unfold right in front of their own eyes. Donald J. Trump the islamophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, homophobic, sexist, racist bigot defeated Hilary Clinton and became the 45th President of the United States of America. Donald Trump shouldn’t have even been nominated to run for president.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Polarization is defined as the “division into two opposites”. (Merriam-Webster) Political Polarization refers to the perceived division of ideologies espoused between the two major political parties in the United States. The topic of political polarization is one frequently referenced in the media and in political discussions. Does political polarization actually exist or is it a myth? In this paper, this question will be analyzed and examined and a conclusion will be reached.

In Brian Resnick’s "How Politics Breaks Our Brains, and How We Can Put Them Back Together" Resnick talks about what, scientifically, makes us bias and prone to partisanship. He explores and evaluates many studies on the subject throughout the article to better explain his point. He talks about how difficult it is to change ones views because our “us versus them” (1) mindset, and how we can fix it.

Over the past three decades, the distance between parties has continued to grow steadily. As their distances increase it has become harder for presidents to receive votes from both parties.

“The Limit of Trumpism,” discusses how Trump’s agenda has kept him in the presidential election. Many have tried to follow his agendas but have caused them to lose the primaries. The article also demonstrates the limits to Trump. The biggest fault Trump has is reaching minorities. Instead of trying to entice minorities he is bashing immigrants. The author believes that this area of ignorance is causing Trump to lose in the polls.

Many Americans are aware of the polarization that exists within them and within the government. However, people do not realize the extent of the polarization and the effect that it has on government functions. Susan Page, author of “Divided We Now Stand” explains that many Americans are aware of the increasing polarization, when a political party influences the stance of a person, and that citizens believe that polarization influence politicians more than it influence them. However, Page argues that voters are to blame as well. She uses a survey to illustrate the choices that Americans make on a certain policy. The results of the survey show that Democrats and Republicans choose the stance of their political party, regardless of their own personal opinions on the actual policy (Page). Page’s point proves that politicians are not the only ones that contribute to the government’s dysfunction, and that voters might want to re-evaluate how they process their information and their choices if they wish to see a change.

Political Polarization in America Today it is common to hear politicians and journalists refer to “today’s polarized America” and lament the effects of polarization on American political discourse. But what exactly is this polarization and is it really so destructive?

First, we can analyze the costs that Abramowitz associates that are bought about polarization being present among the political elites. The first cost is fairly obvious, with increased polarization, there are fewer moderates representing each party in the House. The term “Liberal Republican” or “Conservative Democrat” has all but seemingly disappeared over the past several decades. This is in part due to as previously mentioned, better party sorting amongst the electorate. Another cost that Abramowitz sheds some light on is the increased instances of divided party control of the government. As Abramowitz explains on page 161, due to the fact that the president is elected separately from Congress, there is always the possibility that one or both chambers of Congress that are a different party than the presidents. This leads too many issues, as one can imagine, legislation nearly coming to a complete halt, as each party has a different agenda that they would like to enact. This level of partisan gridlock or divided party control I think is perfectly illustrated as it relates to Republican attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. As the Washington Post reported, as of March 2014,

James Campbell’s book is a political masterpiece that outlines how American voters are divided across the United States. Campbell provides a totally new perspective on the polarization with a historically context on how and why voters are politically divided. Campbell’s argument may seem indirect, but he provides circumstantial evidence and empirical evidence to support his claim of polarization. Polarized is significant to understanding American polarization, and surprisingly other books fail in comparison due to their lack of empirical evidence. Campbell’s book was written in 2016 which provides updated information that can help explain the cause of 2018 election polarization among voters.

There are many theories as to how or why political polarization was formed, and the impact it has on government in modern day. Polarization has varied significantly over the years ever since the 1970’s. However, what is the true cause and can it be explained? This paper will discuss some theories on how political polarization came about, and analyzes some accounts of polarization overall. Defining political polarization is vital into developing an understanding of how or why it was initially formed.

Donald Trump was elected president of the United States of America on November 8th, 2016, and now has been running our country for over a year. As Trump’s first year in office slowly began, his reputation seems to be creating different outside views of our nation and arguments started producing everywhere. After competing with Hillary Clinton for the presidential term in office, Trump defeated her along with her democratic supporters causing one of the most shocking elections in U.S. history. Using public media web pages, we are reviewing both sides of the argument regarding Trump’s election and we are going to decipher why each arguer supports their side, and why each side is reasonable for the benefit of our country.