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political polarization throughout the years
Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America
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Increasingly over the past two decades and in part thanks to the publication of James Davison Hunter’s book, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, the idea of a culture war in American politics has been gaining attention. While the tension between conservatives and liberals is palpable, it’s intensity has proven hard to measure. However, it doesn’t seem that many Americans are polarized on the topic of polarization as most would agree that the culture war is real (Fiorina, 2005). This thinking is what prompted Morris Fiorina to write the book Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. In it, Fiorina outlines an argument against the idea of a culture war by looking at party affiliation by states, how public opinion on hot button issues changed over time and various explanations for why Americans are so hung up on the topic of polarization. While Fiorina makes a good argument, the evidence supporting the culture war is too powerful to explain away. Fiorina had several rational explanations for why Americans believe that the culture war is real, the most poignant one Fiorina would claim that this is confusing positions with choices in that individuals are voting for candidates that are closest to them on an ideological spectrum (2005). Therefore, when an individual votes, they are not necessarily voting for a perfect representation of their views rather they are voting for the candidate that is most like them. This is a great rationalization as to how moderates would vote, however again the most partisan individuals are also the most engaged (Abromowitz and Saunders, 2008). Because the most polarized individuals are often the most politically active, they have the most influence on the government which results in the election of polarized candidates and
Dye, Thomas R. , L. Tucker Gibson Jr., and Clay Robinson. Politics In America. Brief Texas Edition ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2005.
Americans have embraced debate since before we were a country. The idea that we would provide reasoned support for any position that we took is what made us different from the English king. Our love of debate came from the old country, and embedded itself in our culture as a defining value. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that the affinity for debate is still strong, and finds itself as a regular feature of the mainstream media. However, if Deborah Tannen of the New York Times is correct, our understanding of what it means to argue may be very different from what it once was; a “culture of critique” has developed within our media, and it relies on the exclusive opposition of two conflicting positions (Tannen). In her 1994 editorial, titled “The Triumph of the Yell”, Tannen claims that journalists, politicians and academics treat public discourse as an argument. Furthermore, she attempts to persuade her readers that this posturing of argument as a conflict leads to a battle, not a debate, and that we would be able to communicate the truth if this culture were not interfering. This paper will discuss the rhetorical strategies that Tannen utilizes, outline the support given in her editorial, and why her argument is less convincing than it should be.
Dye, Thomas R., L. Tucker Gibson, Jr., and Clay Robison. Politics in America. Ninth ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: Longman, 2011. 337. Print.
But, it also speaks to the wider systematic polarization within the American political system. Political polarization in the United States is a result of cultural and geographical polarization. South V. North, Republican V. Democrat and is firmly rooted in regional history. The cowboy persona which some of these Presidents and politicians choose to adopt, is inherently linked to the physical geographical place from which they hail and the role that place has played in the unfolding of American history. It shapes the character of, (as of yet at least) “the man”, his administration and ultimately the policy of the country for at least four years. The image and persona adopted by these men is nurtured by the regional culture and history of the place that they reside and represent. It can be seen in every president from Kennedy to Reagan and Bush to Obama.
According to Daniel Elazer, there are three separate manifestations of the American political culture. Daniel states that there wasn’t just one political culture that there was three, these being moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic. Daniel states that each individual state has a culture type of the three that were named above. He shows that the southern states are more of the traditionalistic type. Elazer goes on to explain that migration in the 19th century gave pattern to the dominant cultures, and that migration was happening from east to west. As these people migrated throughout the United States not only did they move to get a new life or so to say a fresh start, these people also took their values with them. Dominant culture
James Wilson’s article, “How Divided are We?”, attempts to convince the reader that there is polarization (a culture war) in the United States. Wilson does not define polarization by partisan disagreements solely, rather as “an intense commitment to a candidate, a culture, or an ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from people in another, rival group” (Canon 205). This polarization stretches to the extent that one group’s set of beliefs is totally correct and the rival is wholly wrong (Canon 206). Wilson provides three chief factors for the growth of polarization...
In the text, “The American Cultural Configuration” the authors express the desire of anthropologists to study their own culture despite the difficulty that one faces attempting to subjectively analyze their own society. Holmes and Holmes (2002), use the adage “not being able to see the forest through the trees” (p. 5) to refer to how hard it is for someone to study something they have largely taken for granted. The Holmes' article focuses predominately on paradoxes within our own culture, many of which we don't notice. In a paradox, two contradicting statements can appear to be true at the same time. This essay looks at two paradoxes commonly found in everyday life: the individual versus the family and religion.
Cultural norms play a function in the way individuals view the world. Although, some individual’s experience social dilemmas between their heritage and being American. As United States citizens, individuals should go beyond ethnicity and see everybody as an American. America was established by immigrants from all over the world, which turned the nation into a collage made of a number of diverse cultures. With these different cultures come the laws and religions that govern their behavior. In, Mind Reading an Anthology for Writers by Gary Colombo presents a number of remarkable essays on cultural customs. In “Hidden Culture” by Edward T. Hall, he describes culture as well as, how an individual’s culture effects their capability to understand another person’s cultural customs. In “Mrs. Cassadore” by Mick Fedullo, explains his life experience while educating the Apache students on the reservation. Fedullo overcomes cultural obstacles. Fedullo helps his students to realize that it is acceptable to be Apache. Fedullo teaches his students that one should never transform who they are. “The Self and Society: Changes, Problems, and Opportunities by Roy F. Baumeister make use of labels to explain selfhood. Baumeister discuss the history of selfhood to rationalize selfhood. For example, how changes in the society and culture affect selfhood. Two other articles that give some insight on American culture are “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen, and “Communication In A Global Village” by Dean Barnlund. Culture is something people are born into. The way people view culture is how they are raised around it. Throughout history, our country has experienced social revolutions. When there are social revolutions, bringing about structural...
Anxiety and affluence are terms that are often applied to the post war decades in an attempt to define them. The newfound wealth that Americans enjoyed after World War II wrought changes on the American social landscape that many may not have been able to predict. The push for heavy consumerism that accompanied the sudden upswing of the U.S. economy gave way to concerns about the decay of moral character in the American home. Increasingly filled with anxieties over the ever-present threat of Communism, which most Americans were aware was an issue they themselves could do little about, the population instead turned towards new distractions, such as television, to attempt to reclaim some sense of dominance in a world they no longer quite recognized. The failure of the device to soothe the nerves of anxious Americans can easily serve as a symbol for any case in which American prosperity increased, rather than alleviated, post war fears.
Elazar, Daniel. "Explaining Policy Differences Using Political Culture." Reading. West Texas A&M University. Political Culture Handout. Dr. Dave Rausch, Teel Bivins Professor of Political Science. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. < http://www.wtamu.edu/~jrausch/polcul.html.>
In the October 10, 2011 issue of Time, there is a feature called “The Great American Divide” that reports on money: who has it, who is spending it on what, and how as a country Americans feel about it. This feature also reports something troubling, how the gap between rich and poor is once again growing wide (Sachs, 2011). Shifts in spending, shifts in money control, and a struggle with how to deal with the great money crisis America and Europe face are all discussed in this feature. This feature pulls together how GDP, unemployment rates, consumer consumption, and pricing affect this era of volatility and the shrinking middle class (Foroohar, 2011). This feature also reflects on inflation, economic growth, political stability in emerging markets and taxes play in as well. The answer to solving this imbalance of wealth and the struggling economy may be found by government action, but will it be too late?
The idea of political culture is found within the state’s history. The history of the state is impacted by the people settled in the region, religious backgrounds, and geography. The history of the state influences the attitudes and beliefs that people hold regarding their political system. Daniel Elazar theorized a connection between the states’ history and attitude towards government by explaining differences in government between states. Every state is different with some common ground. Elazar’s theory divides states into three types: moralistic, traditionalistic and individualistic. The state’s constitution defines the powers of government with political culture bias. Because of the state constitution, the political culture influences the power and limitations of governors, legislative, and judiciaries.
American essayist, best-selling author, and former managing editor for Time magazine, Nancy Gibbs, in her op-ed article, “Will the Nation Succeed After Charlottesville Where Donald Trump Failed?”, published on August 28th, 2017, addresses the topic of cultural violence in America and argues that this increasing divide between cultures and ideals will only continue to break apart this nation if individuals, and even the President, can’t stand up and defend those who are trying to make peace in a world of idealistic differences. She supports this claim first by presenting a question by former president, Barack Obama, upon entering his presidency in which introduces this not so far-fetched possibility of a culture war in the United States, second
Fiorina, Morris P., Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope. Culture war?. New York: Pearson
The United States is a country with a diverse existing population today; this country is known as a melting pot of different cultures, each one unique in its own respect. Culture; differentiate one societal group from another by identification beliefs, behaviors, language, traditions, Art, fashion styles, food, religion, politics, and economic systems. Through lifelong, ever changing processes of learning, creativity, and sharing culture shapes our patterns of behavior as well thinking. The Culture’s significance is so intense that it touches almost every aspect of who and what we are. Culture becomes the telescope through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on around us. Trying to define the perplexing term of culture with varying component of distinguishable characteristics is difficult to restrict. Presenly, culture is viewed as consisting primarily of the symbolic, untouched and conception aspects of human societies.