Those stupid inbred Conservatives, all they care about is religion, their guns, and cutting taxes on the rich! More like the stupid Libtards, am I right? Those Liberal snowflakes think that they can solve everything just by having the government pay for it, but nothing is for free, someone has to pay for it! The increasing narrative stretching across the country is that we are becoming increasingly divided. The statements above are just some comments that you might see daily if you dive into the comment section of anything that is of political relevance online. Are Americans really becoming more polarized though, or is this just some myth? The purpose of this paper is to analyze and dissect to separate and distinct viewpoints on the issue of
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Fiorina provides the reader with a wide array of evidence to back up his claims that Americans are not polarized. In Chapter 2 Fiorina states four contributing factors that contribute to the myth of polarization. The first factor is that Americans are confusing closely divided with deeply divided. As Fiorina argues on page 15, voters are more likely, “ambivalent or uncertain.” The second factor that contributes to the myth of polarization is that political activists are not normal people. Interestingly, here Fiorina concedes that the political class has become more polarized, however, he still holds that Americans are more centrist. The third factor is the Medias role, specifically, the way stories are covered. According to Fiorina, stories are consistently framed as a battle or a war so the networks can get ratings and thus make more money. The fourth factor is that people confuse positions with choices. For example, Fiorina says that people are polarized due to the choices they have, not necessarily because of the positions they …show more content…
In chapter 4 Fiorina brings up a study that was conducted by DiMaggio, Evans, and Bryson. The purpose of their study was to use data from the Nation Election Studies (NES) and General Social Survey (GSS). Then by applying four different statistical measures of polarization to 35 different opinion scales they could gauge the opinions of the public and view the variations. The study found that younger and older Americans are actually more alike in their views today, rather than dissimilar. The only polarization they found was on the issue of abortion. Furthermore, as Fiorina argues page 66, Americans are simply better sorted than they were a generation ago. By sorting, Fiorina refers to the party that someone identifies with is more in line with their ideological views, there are fewer conservative Democrats in the south, they are now conservative Republicans, or in the North, there are fewer liberal Republicans, instead, they are now Democrats. This sorting has had an effect on Americans perception of
Fiorina provides the reader with a wide array of evidence to back up his claims that Americans are not polarized. In Chapter 2 Fiorina states four contributing factors that contribute to the myth of polarization. The first factor is that Americans are confusing closely divided with deeply divided. As Fiorina argues on page 15, voters are more likely, “ambivalent or uncertain.” The second factor that contributes to the myth of polarization is that political activists are not normal people. Interestingly, here Fiorina concedes that the political class has become more polarized, however, he still holds that Americans are more centrist. The third factor is the Medias role, specifically, the way stories are covered. According to Fiorina, stories are consistently framed as a battle or a war so the networks can get ratings and thus make more money. The fourth factor is that people confuse positions with choices. For example, Fiorina says that people are polarized due to the choices they have, not necessarily because of the positions they …show more content…
In chapter 4 Fiorina brings up a study that was conducted by DiMaggio, Evans, and Bryson. The purpose of their study was to use data from the Nation Election Studies (NES) and General Social Survey (GSS). Then by applying four different statistical measures of polarization to 35 different opinion scales they could gauge the opinions of the public and view the variations. The study found that younger and older Americans are actually more alike in their views today, rather than dissimilar. The only polarization they found was on the issue of abortion. Furthermore, as Fiorina argues page 66, Americans are simply better sorted than they were a generation ago. By sorting, Fiorina refers to the party that someone identifies with is more in line with their ideological views, there are fewer conservative Democrats in the south, they are now conservative Republicans, or in the North, there are fewer liberal Republicans, instead, they are now Democrats. This sorting has had an effect on Americans perception of