Explain the intense political partisanship of the Gilded Age, despite the parties’ lack of ideological difference and poor quality of political leadership.…
Aldrich claims that a series of gradual changes in the political institutions caused the current dysfunction. He discusses five different periods of time beginning with the “Founding”, Aldrich describes the creation of a government founded on separation of powers as one of the first requirements of the gridlock that characterizes modern politics. The second requirement of gridlock is the two-party system which emerged early in the United State’s existence. While these two characteristics, worked for a small, agrarian, and homogenous society that existed in the 1800s, today the two party system coupled with the separation of powers causes legislative gridlock as parties become more polarized and more competitive. Continuing to “Antebellum”, Aldrich points to the increase in voting rights and the rise of more ambitious political actors.…
Incoming graduates of political science are aware of the restriction that the structure of the government imbeds, including the branches of the government generating unfair control of power in the executive branch, and partisan polarization. America’s basic construction of government, the three branches in parallel with the checks and balance system, creates problems such as a single executive leader inducing unfair policy making, and two main political party advancing partisan polarization. Partisan polarization is the ideology that an individual’s stance on political controversies are limiting of their party identification: republican, democrat. For example, controversies today revealing partisan polarizations are: equal reproductive rights,…
The question of whether divided party control of the American national government is an advantage or disadvantage has long been debated. Many Americans agree with Woodrow Wilson's philosophy, "You cannot compound a successful government out of antagonisms." In other words, a legislative and executive branch controlled by the same political party have a stronger tie and connection and encounters fewer stumbling blocks as they move forward with national policies and issues. There is a sense that divided party control contributes to counter productive law making.…
Two broad coalitions with more ideogical differences within them than between them. ‘To what extent is this still an accurate description of the democratic and republican parties?’ (30 marks)…
The list is as follows: political socialization; power, authority, legitimacy, and capacity; public opinion; media; political elites; political parties; elections; campaigns; presidential powers; among others. Each of these themes is presented and further elaborated with specific examples within the book. The themes complement the information presented in class by adding more specificity and depth. For example, in class, we briefly discussed power, authority, legitimacy, and capacity. In much the same way, the book showed how the lines between these concepts are often blurred and misunderstood, leading to dissensions and hostilities between the public and the elite. However, the book often offered more nuanced theories and explanations for the development of these overarching motifs, through the use of detailed examples and…
Divided We Govern was written by David R. Mayhew addresses the American government and the topic of united and divided party control. Throughout the essay, the author tried to talk about unified and divided control of the government from both views with five questions. The first view is that a united government allows the decisions of the country to be more effective in enacting laws, being held accountable, good government administration, better foreign policy decisions, and more benefits for the “non-rich” citizens of the United States (188). As Randall B. Ripley said, “To have a productive majority in the American system of government the President and a majority of both houses must be from the same party” (181). The second view is that a divided party control is just as effective as a unified party control of the government. Analysts John E. Chubb and Paul E. Peterson said, “When governments of quite different political combinations all fail to perform effectively, it is worth considering whether the problem is the government itself and not the people or parties that run it”…
In the readings of the four articles, they have address the problem with polarization in the people and cultural division. In Wilson's and Fiornia's articles they both mention how there is a deep division in America but Fiornia believes that the American public are more concerned about solving their political problems than the division. According to Wilson, he's view are some-what opposite, he believes that this cultural division will not fade since it was born when this country started. In Judis's article, he also mentions the division in the American public, but he chooses the popular group that has the media's eye which is the Tea Parties. He mentions how there is a division between the Tea Parties and the government and that some of their problems will fade. In the article of my choosing which was Partisan Mood: Polarization and the Dynamics of Mass Party Preferences, was about how the American public are categorized in political groups or parties due to their personal, political or religious views. Even though some of these articles are about the division between small political parties or the division of the Republicans and Democrats, there are still a division in America which can be harmful to trying to keep the United States united.…
After reading “The Polarized Public? Why American Government is so dysfunctional” and further looking upon the PEW research center as well as ANES data base Abramowitz seems to have categorized the factors that influence the polarization, and it seems that the divided in belief and opinions have widened, and are now deeply influential to political parties and government fundamentals, as the polarization is found in…
Polarization has existed for many years in the United States. The idea of polarization can be dated all the way back to 1787, in the Federalist Papers where James Madison discusses the dangers of that factions and groups can pose to the society. Madison's concerns stemmed from the uneasiness that political division has always existed in the United States. Even, Thomas Jefferson had his concerns with polarization and have seen firsthand of the factional disputes that occurred. So what does the term "polarization" mean in terms of politics? Polarization is when the public opinions go into two different extremes which create no middle ground or compromise. The polarization in politics is in regards to the division between organized groups and…
Chapters 10 through 12 in Political Polarization in American Politics explain what causes polarization and who is involved. This reading supports the ideas from chapter four which says that politics has become polarized on more issues than before due to conflict extension. Both Congress and the voters are deeply polarized, driven by two major factors, coming from a change in government and social interactions as well as a “long-term realignment”. Therefore, polarization comes from previous political beliefs and alignments, splitting Republican and Democratic opinions on how much government interaction should be present on policies such as welfare, tax cuts, and Obamacare. Increased competition leads to higher stakes in every political dispute,…
Politicians have used polarization to create a divide and extreme dislike among both political parties. Political polarization occurs when government representatives begin to incorporate personal ideologies in an extreme manner during their political career. For example, a Republican politician begins to speak about their capitalistic and religious beliefs to their Republican audience. They are…
“Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth about the American Voter,” by Rick Shenkman is a book with an eye opening experience. It was one of the best-selling books on the market in 2008 for a different look into the political issues. By Shenkman asking such a forward provoking question, it automatically catches the reader’s attention. It has you go through an immense variety of approaches and opinions. According to Shenkman, Democrats and Republicans point fingers on who’s to blame for the 2008 presidential elections. Most people think it all had to do with the “bad Bush years” in administration, but Shenkman is convinced that it is “too easy to blame our mess on Mr. Bush” (Shenkman xi). Shenkman is questioning the American voter directly; he believes that we The People should be questioned for the root of the problem. Shenkman’s explains that he has five characteristics of stupidity, but the most important are; ignorance, negligence, and how the American voter depends on myths. (Shenkman 14).…
differences between their parties and policies. Although there are similarities between the parties, they tend to be overshadowed by individual party ideologies. With so many fundamental differences between the parties, finding topics or issues upon which constituents agree upon can at times be somewhat difficult. Although there are chasms between the voting practices of the parties, there are also some fundamental similarities as well.…
References: James C. Collins & Jerry I. Porras. (2002). Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Harper Business Essentials).…