Polarization And Political Trust Among The Mass Public Essay

Two very important values that affect American people every day is political trust and political efficacy. Political trust is when people entrust the government in making the right decisions for the country. Political efficacy, however, is when an ordinary person believes that they can make a difference and have a say in what the government does (We The People, p. 7-8, 2017). In 1958 the 73 percent of the American people believed that the federal government will do what is right most or some of the time. Today, political trust has declined drastically. In 2014,

Polarization in the United States today exists on two levels: polarization in the electorate and polarization in the elite. While separate, these two groups are perpetually intertwined. Polarization in the electorate refers to the movement of voters toward ideological extremes, and the ideological gap between voters on either side has been increasing in recent decades (Kuo). A study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2014 confirms the proliferation of polarization in the electorate: it found that since 1994, voters agree more intensely with their party’s policies and view the policies of the opposing party as a “threat to the nation’s well being” (“Political Polarization”). One factor that has led to this increase is the utilization of new technologies by the media, which allow voters to access more information than ever before. This broad scope of available information allows the public to be selective in what they consume (Kuo). As a result, many people participate in confirmation bias, meaning they seek out sources that share their beliefs; this strengthens their preexisting opinions and their level of partisanship. Another factor that increases political polarization in the electorate is geography. Republican voters tend to live in suburbs or rural areas, while Democrat voters are more likely to live in urban areas (Kuo). These geographic boundaries impact polarization because

The polarization visible throughout the 2016- election was not, however, a new phenomenon. For years, Congressional representatives had been growing steadily more segregated along party lines. And for years, prominent political scientists had been identifying an ever-widening ideological divide between Democrats and Republicans. Recently, a study issued by the independent Pew Research Center exposed in clear terms the extent of political polarization in America, illustrating in hard data the schism that’s opened up between

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.

In a democracy citizens are to hold elected officials accountable for their actions in order to ensure delegates are doing what is expected of them. American citizens seem to be living well off enough that they are callous when considering the large problems that other citizens face. A lack in sympathy between citizens conjoined with contradicting social and religious views has created a retrenchment of followership in America. In order for political leaders to gather a large following, their followers must unite over some type of idea imperative in their lives. Unfortunately, Americans report a growing rancor between Democrats and Republicans according to the pew research center, with more than twice as many party members reporting members of the opposite party as unfavorable in 2014 than in 1994. The bipartisan divide has led political leaders to only be able to amass small followings amongst members of their

Due to this, core issues such as gun women rights, health care or immigration, to name a few, are polarized politician’s options will align with that of their voter. “The same model of individual learning that underlies these results gives rise to ideological polarization, confirming the association of polarization with deliberation. Polarization through deliberation comes about because individuals who are not great at making indirect inferences from unpersuasive arguments learn more (or, put differently, receive more information perceive as relevant) from sources that are biased in the direction of their own prior biases, and in learning from those sources, they learn in a way that strengthens and accentuates those prior biases” (Dimitri. 2015. 93-94). Each party views the other negatively and politics are personal with liberals and conservatives sharing the passion equally. The divide is there and Donald Trump’s views and statements played right into this growing separation in ideology and unwillingness to compromise to create a better nation for all. “In the end, there may not be any one-shot solutions or simple answers. The present degree of political polarization didn’t arise overnight, and seems unlikely to dissipate that quickly, either. But even if they don’t solve the entirety of the problem, many voters are drawn to

According to many studies and “We the People” there has been a steady decline in the trust our nation has in the government system. From the mid 1960’s until 1980, a drastic decrease in trust occurred. This marked a time when trust in government had dropped to extremely low levels of about 25 percent. Between that time period and the new millennium the trust in government fluctuated, but for the most, not much change occurred. By the year 2001, soon after 9/11, trust had risen to the above 50 percent level. However, by 2011 trust in government had reached an all-time low point of nearly 10-15 percent, and has not made much of an increase since. This causes many problems in the United States for many different reasons. The government controls a huge part of every American citizen’s daily life, and because of this we must place a lot of trust in our government; this makes trust a highly important trait for U.S Politics. When levels of trust are high, the government can function more to their full potential.

The main political divisions in the United States are into two parties - the Republicans and the Democrats. A recent (Pew Research study) [http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/] noticed a growth in ideological consistency within the parties, with the overlap in conservativeness and liberality shrinking between 1994 and 2014. This polarization of political views could have many effects on the politics of the nation - both in the upcoming (2016) presidential election and societal developments in the future.

Today, more individuals trust their state and local governments than trust the legislature in Washington. Yet, it was not generally that way. A quarter century back individuals were more sure about the government than in those closer to home. From that point forward trust in Washington has dissolved, while confidence in state and local government has really developed. The more extensive issue is the American open's association with its political administration. While trust in government does not specifically connect with that bond, sentiments about political pioneers and the managers of government with unmistakably do. Generally, Americans stay receptive about government. Most think it can improve. One customary clarification of trust underscores the part of history and society.

Overall, polarization has become one of the defining characteristics of American politics in the 21st century. While much attention is paid to the bipolar makeup of Congress, the congressional divide is a reflection of the ideological, and now political, divide amongst the American public. What is the explanation for this widening gap between the two political parties? Essentially, there is not a sole cause leading to a polarized public, rather a myriad of actors on all levels, and in various ways, that have aided in fostering and maintaining a polarized environment in the United States. Thus, in order to get along with this study in a timely manner, I will only address the three trends explaining polarization that are most significant to the conclusion I aim to

The implications of these impacts are likely to be widespread and influence many areas related to the American political system. At this point I will turn to examining research strategies to examine the potential implications of each of these three shifts in four areas, public participation at local levels, interest group control over information, media frames regarding polarization, and policy feedback in the absence of policy actions.

Modern day political scientists have noted that America’s current Congress, the 114th is the most polarized ideologically in history meaning the Democrat make up is more liberal and the Republican make up is more conservative than ever before. This ultimately leave very little room in between for agreement thus essentially slowly fading away the congressional center where moderate outlook exists to tie the two sides of the aisle together. It is commonly acknowledged that the system has become extensively polarized and is often referred to as broken as a result. Given this fact, it is imperative to examine just how America’s political system has so rapidly evolved and what those who came before us had to say about the concept of a two party

A deep divide between political parties in the United States is nothing new. Heated, ideological debates can be traced back to over two centuries ago between the founding fathers, most notably between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, who birthed the two party system through their differing views on the extent of federal power. Today, this system continues on, but with a stark and alarming difference between the value and discussions taking place due to the severe polarization that has gripped American politics. Recently factors including the infiltration of party politics by extremism, biased news, and the unrelenting desire of politicians to remain in power has culminated into the disastrous partisanship that afflicts government today.

On Tuesday, November 14, 1995, in what has been perceived as the years biggest non-event, the federal government shut down all "non-essential" services due to what was, for all intents and purposes, a game of national "chicken" between the House Speaker and the President. And, at an estimated cost of 200 million dollars a day, this dubious battle of dueling egos did not come cheap (Bradsher, 1995, p.16). Why do politicians find it almost congenitally impossible to cooperate? What is it about politics and power that seem to always put them at odds with good government? Indeed, is an effective, well run government even possible given the current adversarial relationship between our two main political parties?

Americans trust as the ratio of peoples’ evaluation of government performance relative to their normative expectations of how government ought to perform (Hetherington and Husser, 2011). We demonstrate that such changes in Americans’ attitude with trust in government, politicians and congress through analyzing data from the 2014 General Social Survey in that trust has decreased in the overall trust in Americas government.Trends of Trust in Government