Social And Political Views Of Democracy

While there are many hypotheses and theories as to why education is important for democratic citizens, there is common and consistent agreement within the literature since the 1970s. There is consistency in the belief that education provides both the skills to become politically engaged and the knowledge to understand and accept democratic principles leading to correlative effects on party identification on both individual and aggregate levels (Golebiowska 1995; Galston 2004). Angus Campbell and Philip E. Converse (1972) describe education as the universal solvent, strongly and positively correlated with a host of valued civic attitudes and behaviors such as political party or ideology formation.

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.

Today, the majority of self-identified Democrats or Republicans adhere to an ideological stance that their party proclaims -- they are the straight-ticket voters. At the same time, growing numbers of voters proclaim themselves “independent,” which implies that you vote based on educated judgments about the candidates. This new group of voters has created the “negative partisanship” phenomenon and caused “voters [to] form strong loyalties based more on loathing for the opposing party than on the old kind of tribal loyalty” (Chait).

This research investigates how the process of party identification is influenced when a candidate chooses to identify with his or her party and how. It will also discuss the theories of party identification and how they explain it among political candidates. Currently, party identification is still the most compelling explanation that informs voters’ choice. It is agreed that the electorate vote is based on their party identification. While this remains a controversial topic, it

In this paper I argue that the US electorate is not polarized or deeply divided, instead, the electorate is forced to choose between two extremes making it appear as if they are divided when in reality they have many similar views on many issues. I base my argument on Table 1 and 2 in Alan Abramowitz’s essay that shows how the US electorate have to choose between two parties although they may not feel as strong about the topic like the candidate. Tables 5 and 7 in Morris Fiorina’s essay convince me that the US electorate is not polarized, in fact there are many idealogical similarities, however, parties push agenda’s that are highly divided and polarized therefore people have to choose between the two, that is closest to their views, either religious or cultural, although they may not completely agree with them.

148). In essence, every voter has some political beliefs and values that often influence the way he or she views political parties, candidates, and ideals. Some conservative people tend to vote to Republican, while some people tend to vote Democratic. Voters have their own political attitudes, and these attitudes determine how society goes, whom they are voting for, and what kind of political parties they are supporting. Many elements have the ability to contribute the political attitudes, such as family, gender, education, income, religion, age, race, and etc. According to Ginsberg et al., the first place where people start forming their beliefs on politics is their families and society (148). This idea explains the reason some areas in the U.S. have more Democratic representatives while others have the majority of their residents being Republicans. The fact that most people possess these ideals means that in the event that the candidates in a ballot do not have the qualities that a particular group of voters is looking for, these voters will not partake in voting. When the impact of race in political socialization is factored in, it becomes increasingly evident that some people of one race are unlikely to spend their time voting for a candidate who does not represent their beliefs pertaining to racial issues. For instance, African Americans’ perception of the extent of racism is different from that of whites. This has a significant bearing on the motivation of voters from each divide to participate in an election (Ginsberg et al.

In the midst of the 2016 Presidential Election, it is a great idea to look into how certain characteristics have the ability to determine political party identification. When asking an ordinary citizen about their political views, they are most likely able to group a certain issue into a political party’s agenda, Democrat or Republican, just by knowing how influential political parties are. Party identification is central to the analysis of political differences. They study of how people’s voting behavior is affected by certain characteristics is significant. It is significant to Political Scientists, Politicians and, hopefully, the public. The connection between party identification and the effects of education, income, and race has on

The multiple characteristics that play into political participation of a person can span from gender, race, economic situation, amount of education, and their political affiliation. One case is that, “blacks and whites differ significantly in views of the role of race in criminal justice system” (152). It is likely someone who is black would vote if the candidate is promising to get rid of inequality. It is also possible that one group of people may not even vote at all if they believe the matter does not concern them. The voter's’ party affiliation can also affect them to vote. Let’s say a candidate is part of a party and they seem to have a good chance of winning. Naturally the other party would not want that candidate as their president and so, they would vote for whoever is representing their party. One example comes from the recent election; in which Republicans started to vote for Trump to avoid for Hillary, a Democratic, to become president. In addition, ...

The results of my political typology survey were slightly surprising to me—I am a business conservative. The vast majority of my extended family claim to be conservative as well. Despite (or maybe as a result of) our similar views, we aren’t afraid to talk politics. Many a Thanksgiving has been spent discussing the latest turn of events from Washington. Yet, my parents in particular have always pushed my brother and me to make our own political decisions. The surprising results of this quiz, however, stem from the degree of conservatism that I am categorized as—it seems that I am farther left on the scale than the rest of my family. They haven’t taken this quiz, but I’m sure that they would be considered steadfast conservatives.

In America, there are two main ideologies, or organized set of ideas founded on basic principles: liberal and conservative (Kollman 331). Liberal ideology is focused on government action to alleviate social ills and pushing for social, political, and economic equality. Conversely, conservative ideology prioritizes limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and traditional American values. The Democrat Party aligns more with liberal values, while the Republican Party has ideological values that align more with conservatism. The Pew Research Center has divided the American public into eight politically engaged groups or “typologies,” along with a less engaged group labeled Bystanders. Assignment is based on individuals’ position on various social and political values—ranging from Solid Liberal all the way to Steadfast Conservative.

The two leading parties in American Politics- Democrats and Republicans- have a steady base of support amongst the American public at all times. Often, support shown for the political parties is fervent, if not outright fanatical. In order for a voter that identifies as Republican to vote Democrat, their party has to go through realignment, or their ideologies and beliefs on polarizing issues has to change. To examine the extent to which party realignment can influence a voter’s party allegiance, changes in the voting of certain demographics must be looked at. It is also necessary to examine core issues in our country and the role they play in influencing votes toward one party or the other. Partisan loyalty is a hard thing to alter, but if certain criteria are met, then a voter’s ballot can change over time.

Converse and Fournier’s study indicates that citizens have low level of political knowledge and lack fixed ideological preferences. However, people also have a natural tendency to fall into an ideological framework according to their existing principles. This is shown in the strong emphasis on party ideologies in the Canadian

I’ve been living in the United States since less than two years ago. I have come to understand since then the division in ideologies of the advocates of each main party, democrats and republicans. However, I didn’t grow up in a bipartisan political system, I still find strange there are only two options each election, and that the population which identifies strongly with one side has certain stereotyped behaviors.

Much of a person’s political identity begins with the beliefs and ideas absorbed in the home from parents and relatives, in school, and so forth, but regional differences, race, ethnicity, gender, family structure, religion and level of income are also contributing factors in how one’s political identity and ideology takes shape. (Magleby, et al., 2008., p. 115) Though there are overreaching national political traditions such as our two party system by virtue of manifest destiny, the United States stretches from coast to coast with each region having

Winston Churchill once remarked that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried”. In agreement with his statement, this paper will examine the problems of democratic governments using specific examples, and compare it to the failure of fascist governments in Nazi Germany and Italy and communist governments in the Soviet Union and China.