Polarization

Drew Desilver, “You don’t have to look hard to see evidence of political polarization.” Just watch cable news, listen to talk radio, follow social-media debates, or eavesdrop a conversation at a coffee shop - anyone in the Unites States has seen the partisan polarization developing throughout political culture. But what causes the extreme polarization so evident in today’s society? One of the primary causes of polarization is partisan activists. Partisan activists are the individuals who knock…

1. I chose dehumanization and polarization from the ten stages of genocide by Gregory Stanton. Dehumanization is the act of denying a group of people their humanity. They are often referred to as something insignificant such as a parasite, cancer, or leech. This process makes them seem less than human and not worthy of humane treatment. In addition, other means of identification such as badges and numbers are used in place of names to identify the group. In the context of Rwanda, Rwandan…

have changed. Christians are compromising and turning away from God and his word, group polarization has made the government a toy to the American society, and the constitution has been ignored. Biblical values have shaped the early years of America. The exploration prospered, the people resolved…

with lower thresholds to higher thresholds. If the rumor continues to grow, the quantity of believers can become so great that those with high thresholds of belief will have trouble not believing the rumor or just conforming to the swarm. Group polarization is an extension of this critical mass property: “[W]hen like-minded people deliberate, they typically end up adopting a more extreme position in line with their pre-deliberation inclinations” (Sunstein 395). In situations like these,…

America itself becomes more divided. Political polarization is a result of growing partisan antipathy, ideological consistency, and political engagement or activism. Growing partisan antipathy is a party’s negative attitude towards the opposing party. Greater numbers of both parties have extremely negative views of the opposing party and state that the opposing party’s policies are a threat to the nation. “In both…

influence in pushing their party’s agendas and passing legislation they find favorable. Compromise is necessary; however, this has become difficult as the two polarized parties struggle to find common ground in their political ideologies. Political polarization can be simply defined as the widening gap between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans as each group grows more ideologically consistent with its own party. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, Americans…

party's ability to keep their campaign promises in the event of a victory. Furthermore, political polarization has been shown to increase voter turnout. Following the end of the Second World War, as well as the years throughout the Cold War, the percent turnout of voting age population (VAP) can be seen following a general trend of declination. Seemingly correlated with the general trend of polarization, percent turnout of VAP within the last decade has increased, which, perhaps, offers better…

76 percent of the American public believes that the Republican and the Democrat parties do not have the capacity to mend the country’s problems because of political polarization (Hayden). In layman’s terms, political polarization is the division of political parties based on extreme ideologies. Political polarization has been a hot topic in light of the ongoing political campaigns. Nonetheless, this is not news because the major American political parties have always been polarized over the…

parties seem to be getting further and further away from being able to reach a common ground. Party polarization is defined as the vast and growing gap between liberals and conservatives. (Pew Research Center) There are many reasons as to why the public specifically are having trouble agreeing, such as the media’s different portrayals of same events, the social media’s ability to drive polarization, and viewpoints on the core issues becoming stronger. The average citizen, traditionally, knows…

reflect the democratic citizenship's ideals closely, form the most polarized group. At the highest governmental levels, polarization does not symbolize the disconnection of the elites from the general public but instead, their responsiveness to the parts of it that are engaged. Often, polarization is assumed to be detrimental to democracy, but Abramowitz claims that polarization through the presentation of voters who have clear…