Gender Differences In American Politics

“Democracy is a process that requires people to engage in discussions with those who disagree with them, and through discourse come to a deeper understanding of politics” (Fishkin, 1991). In our highly political climate, many deeply held beliefs are viewed as controversial. Often constructive discourse is shut down because issues are polarized and people can become angry and combative when met with an ideology that differs from their own. Deeply held views are difficult if not impossible to change. Attitudes toward social issues like gender, abortion, religion, sexuality and morality as well as more political issues like the economy, foreign affairs, and the role of government are deeply engrained in our multi-cultural political landscape. Levitan and Verhulst (2015) showed that exposing people to the views of a group in a civil and emotionally neutral setting, can make lasting shifts in attitudes. Whether this shift is inherently good or bad is up for interpretation (Levitan & Verhulst, 2015). When the prevailing form of discussion is uncivil, it leads to further polarization of attitudes and increased negative emotions toward the “other” side (Hwang, Kim & Kim, 2016). It is important to understand how common ground can be reached. It is also important to know the factors that threaten that common ground when discussing difficult …show more content…
However, the arena of politics holds many hot button issues. As a matter of fact, we are discouraged per social etiquette from talking about politics in public. This is because tempers can flare when we perceive someone as questioning our beliefs. This moral indignation is the cause of the complete breakdown of civil discourse from our politicians in Washington D.C. all the way to the family dinner table at Thanksgiving. So why bother engaging people with dissimilar views when we know we can’t change their