Political Opinions Influence On American Politics

What I learned this week which I found most interesting is the evolving situation of housing segregation in this country. If I would have been asked why our country is still so segregated I would say that this situation is due to the fact that we had Jim Crow laws

America is the leading power in the world. Although to other countries we may seem like a well bonded country, we are divided. Democrats and Republicans in the past have never been this angry at each other in a long time. The last time our nation has been this divided was during the Civil War and events that partook after. Statistics in this past election show that 54% of Republicans our in disapproval of Democrats. While Democrats show a 55% disapproval toward Republicans (Election News). This divide started in 2008 when John McCain elected Sarah Palin to be his Vice President in the election vs. at the time Senator Barack Obama. After Obama was elected President, the Alt-Right and Conservatives were afraid that they would not have another Republican in office again. Back when Eisenhower was elected, Democrats and Republicans showed a 60% approval rating of him when elected into office (Thinker,America). From Lincoln to Trump on the other hand, Democrats nowadays are not happy with the New Republican Party. Then in 2015 Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president. He than attracted the Alt-Right with his talks and inciting fear into Americans. Nowadays America is divided and

Political polarization can be analyzed by two approaches i.e. elite polarization and mass polarization (Fiorina & Abrams 2008). In its simplest form, what influence politics and what influences the public. Both types can take place over time

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

In the book, Culture War?, by Morris Fiorina, the myth of a polarized America is exposed. Fiorina covers issues such as why Americans believe that America is polarized, that Red and Blue State people aren’t as different as they are made out to be, and that the United States is

"Over the past 30 to 40 years, growing partisan polarization...has been driven by generational replacement as new entrants evinced greater party-issue constraint than did

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.

How New Policies and Issues Affect Partisanship When you observe the graph that the American National Election Studies has created, you begin to notice a pattern. This pattern would be that there was either an increase or decrease in the strength of the people's partisanship for each party around the time that a new president came into office. It seems that every single time that there was a change in the political leader of our country that people either felt very strong partisanship or very little. This must have to do with the idea that with each new president, the new issues arising in the country will be handled a certain way. Furthermore, how said issues are handled by those in office affect the partisanship. These new issues

I truly agree to the statement of Fareed Zakaria on why political polarization has gone wild in America. He said over the last few decades, the rules of organizing American politics have changed. This is in regards to the changes in congressional rules that made it more difficult to enact large compromise legislation (Zakaria, 2011). This is the type of problem, we as citizens of this country and the nation will compel to face if no changes will occur.

The Core lecture was titled “Me, Myself, and I, D or R: Politics through Red and Blue Colored Glass” and lectured by Alex Theodoridis, who is a doctor of political science. The main argument of the lecture was that polarization will continue to increase between the parties until they are

Ideological polarization has become a serious problem. There are much fewer liberal republicans and conservative democrats in Congress. Clear evidence of this polarization was the rise of the Tea Party during President Obama’s first term. In 2010, the midterm elections saw dozens of Tea Party candidates win seats. Their anti-Obama and anti-establishment platform appealed to Republicans who, fearing more inaction, worried that the party leadership wouldn’t push their agenda strongly enough with a Democratic White House. Instead of achieving passable legislation, the Tea Party achieved a government shutdown and a weaker, divided GOP. A Republican controlled House was barely able to pass any meaningful legislation because of this division. While party ideology is being forced away from the center, the American public hasn’t experienced any considerate ideological shifts recently. The only dramatic shift in ideology has been an overall increase in social liberalism since 1950. (Gallup) Moderate voters have just begun opting for more extreme candidates in the hope of producing some kind of policy outcome. People are becoming so desperate for any kind of change in whichever ideological direction they believe is right, that they are willing to go to new extremes on election day. The two party system can’t function if each party is ripping themselves apart from within while simultaneously sprinting towards their respective ends of the political spectrum. Party infighting caused by ideological polarization is counterproductive. Political parties that can’t even agree on a realistic platform do not inspire confidence among an already cynical

We live in a world blanketed by the darkness of ignorance. Instead of blindly searching for the black or white answers, we must defeat the enemy by moving toward common ground. Currently in politics, we see the negative effect of polarization as the presidential campaign has become candidate centered rather than issue centered. We see the candidates resort to bully-like tactics where they attack each other personally, rather than focusing on the issues at hand. While it is said that polarity is an integral part of nature, we need our differences to bring us together as a whole, rather than drive us apart. Polarization is inevitable due to the unique design of every individual, but issues are seen as either black or white, when really

Americans are generally friendly people if they don’t know your political alignment. Granted, events such as racism and class stigmatism still exist, but we are likely to be more tolerant of somebody if we don’t know their political alignment.However, when it comes to our politics, for whatever reason, Americans have

A key example where this polarisation can be seen is with the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. This act stated that “any physician who knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.” When brought up in the House of Representatives, 138 Democrats opposed it, and 218 Republicans supported

An Ideological Shift Since about 1980, the political system has polarized a gap in ideology between the Democrat and Republican Parties has been broadening while moderates vanish from Congress. Republicans enjoy their increase in electoral success, and the Democratic control of the federal government was breaking. Republicans had been able to hold presidency for twenty years and at least one house of Congress for twenty-two years.