Is America deeply polarized along partisan lines? Is there a culture war? Is the red-America/blue-America split real?
What is party polarization? Party polarization is the greater agreement on policy stand within each party and sharper policy differences between the Democrats and Republicans. Ever since the political parties in America were created, they have strived to gain power and achieve certain policy goals. Political scientist James Q. Wilson argues “that the cultural split is deep and is reflected in party competition and the public opinion of partisans within and across the red and blue states.” Wilson suggests that there are three chief factors contributing to polarization and cultural division in the United States.
The first factor is the ideological realignment of the political parties. Because the opinions of the members of Congress greatly influence the …show more content…
Unless the two opposing parties, the Democratic party and the Republican party, agree on fundamental policies, the ideological gap will continue to grow. The divided House, competitive media, changing interest groups and the Tea Party are all evident factors in the current 2016 election cycle. Liberals support government aid such as Obamacare, Medicaid, and disability benefits, etc., while conservatives believe the government is giving the people too much. The conservative Republicans are proposing to repeal any government aid that is provided to the people. Ideological conflict is rising is this election.
Agreeing that there is a clear division between American politics in the past and American politics today, political scientist Morris P. Fiorina agrees with Wilson that the political elite, elected leaders, the news media and interest groups are polarized. Fiorina suggests that in addition to polarization between the elites of the two parties, the Republicans are persuading more Democrats to become consistently
What is party polarization? Party polarization is the greater agreement on policy stand within each party and sharper policy differences between the Democrats and Republicans. Ever since the political parties in America were created, they have strived to gain power and achieve certain policy goals. Political scientist James Q. Wilson argues “that the cultural split is deep and is reflected in party competition and the public opinion of partisans within and across the red and blue states.” Wilson suggests that there are three chief factors contributing to polarization and cultural division in the United States.
The first factor is the ideological realignment of the political parties. Because the opinions of the members of Congress greatly influence the …show more content…
Unless the two opposing parties, the Democratic party and the Republican party, agree on fundamental policies, the ideological gap will continue to grow. The divided House, competitive media, changing interest groups and the Tea Party are all evident factors in the current 2016 election cycle. Liberals support government aid such as Obamacare, Medicaid, and disability benefits, etc., while conservatives believe the government is giving the people too much. The conservative Republicans are proposing to repeal any government aid that is provided to the people. Ideological conflict is rising is this election.
Agreeing that there is a clear division between American politics in the past and American politics today, political scientist Morris P. Fiorina agrees with Wilson that the political elite, elected leaders, the news media and interest groups are polarized. Fiorina suggests that in addition to polarization between the elites of the two parties, the Republicans are persuading more Democrats to become consistently