As of the year 2016, there are an estimated 324,118,787 people living in America. 324,118,787 people consider themselves to be Americans and 324,118,787 people have decided that America really is worthy enough to be called home. These people, whether they were born within the country or emigrated from another country, comingle in this melting pot of a nation, sharing grocery stores and hospitals and neighborhoods and all the ideologies that make up American society, and each of these people have their own lives and opinions and personal beliefs. All of these people, all (roughly) 324,118,787 of them, fall under the definition of an American – a person who lives in America, because there is simply no other way to define what an American is when
Citizens of today’s society are convinced that they are divided tremendously. That the Republicans are so far right on the spectrum and that the Democrats are so far left on the spectrum that it is impossible for both parties to come to an agreement on any type of issue. If citizens dig deeper into the political world, they will find that there is not much of a difference between the two parties as they think. My job is to uncover what you may not know about politics, and have you see the opposing party 's view on the issues
The bi-partisan government in the United States of America is further divided by the ways of the internet. The internet only makes it more readily available to find false information to prove your side of the arguement right.In the article titled “The Things People Say: Rumors in an age of unreason,” published in The New Yorker (November 2009), staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert discusses The spread of rumors across the internet and how it further divides the bipartisan government and argues that due to the filtering of ideas people are more likely to go against evidence when there are people that support their opinions. The author supports this claim by providing examples such as the study done in 1970, quoting multiple sources beyond her political
Before media, politicians and other newsmakers had to rely on word of mouth to communicate the various messages they were espousing. However, they found this was an unreliable method of communication and the first newspapers and other media mediums were created. This comes at a drawback. As media companies grow larger and larger, they become more susceptible to bias. This has lead to a proliferation of bias across the many media companies in existence today. Media bias has a very large effect on society and most often in a negative way. There are four specific effects that will be discussed. These are, it undermines the public’s trust in the media, it leads to a decline in productive discussion, it can ruin the reputation of businesses or individuals
Political beliefs and party lines may be the most controversial topic across all of America. As the current Presidential debates and ensuing election draw near, most will make decisions, take sides, and debate across the supper table or in the local coffee shops. The American people will not be able to escape the debates since on most days some form of media is making their ideas and opinions known and open for discussion. Wendell Berry’s article, “Caught in the Middle,” is a select piece from his book Our Only World, which takes a look at his interpretation of politics in America as they currently stand. Controversial topics, such as abortion and homosexual marriages are discusses. He also points out differences between liberal and more conservative parties. Through these topics, he informs the reader of his opinions regarding problems in American politics; the equality of people governed and the divide amongst political parties.
The American Civil Liberty Union was formed during WW1, because the Federal Government was constraining people’s freedom of speech and throwing people into jail because they went against the government. So during the 20’s people started to have more and more freedoms and many of the laws the Government had in place to suppress the people were starting to be repealed. People were starting to be subject to advertisements from coca cola to phonographs. The people in the 20s people were living free they were drinking and expressing themselves more than they ever had and that had some groups upset. I don’t believe the 20’s were decadence they were the building blocks of a country that is open to all persons and cultures.
Over the last decade congressional polarization has increased at alarming rates causing Washington insiders and outsiders alike to worry about the future of American politics and democracy. While Democrats and Republicans on The Hill cannot agree on much, they both acknowledge that the increasing level of polarization in Washington is crippling the entire legislative branch, thereby undermining the greatest democracy in the world. Numerous public opinion polls, over the last few years, have shown that the vast majority of the American public, regardless of party affiliation, disapproves of, and feels unrepresented by, the extremely polarized legislature (Gallup, 2016). However, year after year, despite how many Americans become disgruntled
In Ruben Navarrette’s opinion piece in the USA Today, “Don’t be a 100 percent-er”, she discusses the partisanship involved in two major American political issues, guns and abortion. The beliefs of most people of these two political debates mostly coincide with their political party, with Democrats being on the side for gun control and be pro-choice, while Republicans are on the side of less gun control and be pro-life. Navarrette argues that this partisanship, these contrasting views with no grey in between, is fracturing the country, and politics is not about absolutes. She goes on to describe that there are people in the United States, including the author herself, that have beliefs in this grey area, and that going more to the fringes is
Within the media, readers are constantly being persuaded to believe one side of a political debate. Everyone has their own side of a controversial topic, however articles all over the internet today are influencing people to think a certain way. Three persuasion techniques are ethos, pathos, logos. Whether they are aware of it or not, readers will read these writing techniques all throughout articles and news sites. Ethos pertains to the character or authority of a source, pathos refers to the emotional side of a writing piece, and logos is a form based on facts and logic. A current controversial topic these days is gun control. Sources can be found all over, influencing the reader’s opinions on whether gun laws should be made stricter or
In the article Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America, Morris Fiorina addresses the issue of the illusion of political polarization. Political polarization is the separation of political beliefs into two separate extremes. The main illustration Fiorina uses is the use the electoral map. The electoral map is used to gauge which party won an election or polling. This is depicted when the states turns red if a state votes for the majority Republican, or the turns blue if the state votes primarily Democratic despite if there is a close margin. Fiorina discusses the uses the illustration to present the false illusion of political division and the influence media has on the public.
In the bibliography of Cass Sunstein “The Things People Say” by Elizabeth Kolbert, she uses examples of some dislike towards President Obama to examine the ideology behind a growing trend of bias online media outlets ability to sway the “American voter” as Cass Sunstein writes. Kolbert goes on to explain that the ease and usability of the online world allows users to tailor their search results. Resulting in users amplifying their political standings and viewpoints. She points out that this is not always good because of the amount of information on the internet, truth is often lost and replaced with a more fabricated truth. Kolbert relates that these untruths in a world of technology, coupled with bias media, results in users with the same
In his Farewell Address, George Washington warned Americans about the effects of political polarization, saying,“One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts.” Polarization is the division into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs. The political gap between Democrats and Republicans has been a growing problem but has seemed to get increasingly worse in recent years. Although the two-party system can help create balance within
Using massive quantitative analysis of Facebook, a 2016 research study observed similar information consumption patterns among users of varying political leaning, namely the tendency “to select and share content related to a specific narrative and to ignore the rest” (Watry). Catering to the confirmation bias inherent in individuals, this tendency in effect drives users away from dissenting views. The formation of isolated, like-minded groups overwhelmingly benefits pieces that are intentionally crafted to manipulate said groups, thus initiating a vicious cycle of polarization: echo chambers provide the perfect environment for “fake news” articles, which then embolden extreme ideologies and hateful remarks, which in turn creates an even more polarized political
To elaborate, media sources such as newspapers and news channels can be identified as either ‘right-wing’ or ‘left-wing’ politics. In reference to ‘The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics’, right-wing politics can be defined as the
As individuals turn out to be more aware about what is really going on, and taking about it through developing media sources and presenting themselves to a wide range of sources of mass media, the individual can discover reality and frame his or her own particular taught assessment, and American culture holds this as an essential factor in the general population 's regular daily existences. We feel as though we are not really controlled by the media, but rather individuals responsible for our nation, and rising media has made this