DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (take a total 600 words to answer)
1. About 200 words: Summarize why McAdam/Kloos and Eduardo Porter believe the United States is experiencing a crisis of political legitimacy.
As more and more citizens become disheartened by the American political system, the question of political legitimacy has come into play. McAdam and Kloos remark that there has never been this high of distrust in the government. In 1964, 74 percent of Americans trusted their government “to do the right thing”. Contrastingly, only 19 percent believed the same when asked in October of 2013 (McAdam and Kloos, 325). The 2013 government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis has only fueled this lack of trust with many American citizens outright wary of Congress. Similarly, Eduardo Porter writes much of the same in his article in the New York Times. He writes that the US democracy has gotten increasingly dysfunctional in a time marked by a progressively polarized government and sweeping income inequality. He also comments on the effect of gerrymandering which makes elections seem pointless and easy to criticize as rigged. Trust needs to be earned at this point …show more content…
However, Trump successfully tapped into the growing resentment among the working and middle class. Support grew in response to real grievances over increase income inequality, fear of losing domestic jobs to immigrants, and politicians disassociated with “the people”. While Kazin notes some skepticism for the success of a Trump campaign (the article came out in October 2016, before the announcement of a Trump presidency) where the utilization of negativity runs the risk of polarizing an optimistic nation, he does comments on the relationship between anxiety and anger with larger voter turnout and participation. In general, Kazin believes that at its best populism serves to provide and strengthen
1. About 200 words: Summarize why McAdam/Kloos and Eduardo Porter believe the United States is experiencing a crisis of political legitimacy.
As more and more citizens become disheartened by the American political system, the question of political legitimacy has come into play. McAdam and Kloos remark that there has never been this high of distrust in the government. In 1964, 74 percent of Americans trusted their government “to do the right thing”. Contrastingly, only 19 percent believed the same when asked in October of 2013 (McAdam and Kloos, 325). The 2013 government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis has only fueled this lack of trust with many American citizens outright wary of Congress. Similarly, Eduardo Porter writes much of the same in his article in the New York Times. He writes that the US democracy has gotten increasingly dysfunctional in a time marked by a progressively polarized government and sweeping income inequality. He also comments on the effect of gerrymandering which makes elections seem pointless and easy to criticize as rigged. Trust needs to be earned at this point …show more content…
However, Trump successfully tapped into the growing resentment among the working and middle class. Support grew in response to real grievances over increase income inequality, fear of losing domestic jobs to immigrants, and politicians disassociated with “the people”. While Kazin notes some skepticism for the success of a Trump campaign (the article came out in October 2016, before the announcement of a Trump presidency) where the utilization of negativity runs the risk of polarizing an optimistic nation, he does comments on the relationship between anxiety and anger with larger voter turnout and participation. In general, Kazin believes that at its best populism serves to provide and strengthen