Andrew Romano’s article “How dumb are we?” contradicts the idea that citizens at least know the basics about their country’s political system and state affairs. He describes how surveys reveal that many Americans lack a common understanding and knowledge of their domestic politics as well as foreign politics. Some of his main arguments explain why the Americans are less aware of their country’s politics than the Europeans are, e.g. the complexity of the American political system, the decentralized educational system and most importantly that Americans are ignorant, not stupid. Romano also empathizes that the Americans’ lack of knowledge poses a threat to the American society. Mr. Romano uses words with a negative connotation, when he describes the U.S.A.’s political system. “[…] our …show more content…
He both disassociates and associates himself with Americans by using certain pronouns. “For as long as they’ve existed, Americans have […]” (page 2, line 6). He disassociates himself from Americans by writing “they”, but at other times he writes “[…] like us” (page 2, line 14), thereby portraying himself as one of the Americans. Readers become more involved in the article, when words like “us” are used. Andrew Romano frequently quotes experts, e.g. “Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker” (page 2, line 25) and the sociologist Dalton Conley. The expert quotes make him seem more trustworthy and so do all the numbers and statistics in the article. He mainly uses logos, but does not write very argumentatively. The article’s main focus is not to convince people that the American ignorance is a problem, but to inform them that there is a problem, therefore it is an educational article, rather than argumentative. This is supported the last few lines of the article, where the writer admits to not knowing whether the Americans can get rid of their ignorance or not. Despite this he encourages the readers to “start searching for a cure” (page 4, line 80). Mr.
David Brooks utilizes the rhetorical devices of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos to build his argument that disrespecting American values is counterproductive. First, Brooks uses the Rhetorical device of Pathos to appeal to the emotions of the reader. He says that “Over the centuries, this civic religion fired a fervent desire for change”(Par. 6). Brooks uses the word “fervent” in his writing, because it appeals to the emotions of the reader, It expresses the extent of the desire for change. This is known as pathos.
William Novak presents an argument on how the history of American government has been told upside-down for many years now. Novak depicts a mighty American state, capable of a great deal and responsible for some of the most important narratives in American history. However, there were many people, of whom had great interest in the founding fathers, were irritated by Novak’s argument. The main group of people being referred to here were people from the Tea Party political movement.
Article 1 Source : "The Coddling of the American Mind." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 10 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
An expository text written by Mike Steketee, a former columnist well known for his affairs and articles concerning the political aspects and happening in Australian society. One of many opinionative texts by Mike, this one aimed at the large majority who “don’t know” as Mike states, which political candidate to vote for. A number of techniques can be found in the beginnings of the text, especially the title. The title that author Mike Steketee chose to publish, headlined “Trust me, we find it very hard to believe our leaders”; Obviously common knowledge that might derive from the article if one were to read, is that this text is more-or-less subjected to the majority of Australians who are permitted to vote, or are deemed old enough due to
He relates it to present day America and gave many examples and statistics on the
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
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
Furthermore, most Americans in general care more about their personal lives than what 's happening in their country. The article claims, "we stopped engaging with one another as a civilized society".
For many years, America’s voting system has been criticized, with the main point of interest being the Electoral College. Some say that the Electoral College is necessary to streamline and simplify the voting process, while others say that it is outdated and takes away power from American citizens. After investigating the subject, it is clear that the Electoral College should be abolished due to the three major defects its critics find in the system; its undemocratic nature, its tendency to give small states’ votes too much power, and its disastrous effects on third-party candidates. The first, and possibly largest, defect in the Electoral College is its undemocratic nature. A professor of political science once said that “the Electoral College violates political equality” (Edwards 453).
In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville provides an analysis and critique of American civic life. During his travels across the country, he discovered how different America was from Europe, particularly France. While the majority of Europe consisted of aristocratic countries with hundreds of years of history, America was a young democratic country. Most notably, he observed that America was growing in equality. The growing equality becomes a presupposition of individualism and isolation, but despite this inevitable growth of equality, individualism and isolation can be minimized.
The United States currently faces a severe problem with one of their governmental processes. In the democratic system of the United States, politicians are elected by voting from the citizens, in most cases. The problem the United States is facing is that people are no longer voting in elections for officials. This problem is discussed in the article, “In praise of low voter turnout”, written by Charles Krauthammer. The main idea behind this article is that voters are no longer interested in politics, as they were in previous generations.
He states “When most Americans think a quarter of the U.S. federal budget is devoted to foreign aid, when more than 70 percent of them cannot name all three branches of government-and nearly a third can’t name even one-the basic structures of American democracy cannot survive.” The authors tone rose because many Americans are ignorant since they like to believe and make things up. I understand the authors tone because it’s these people who are the cause of killing the expertise since they think they know it all, but that is not the
America is regarded highly in the world, due to its economic, political, as well as social development. As countries mature politically, voter turnout is expected to increase. This is the case for most industrialized nations who experience an average voter turnout above 70%. However, it is troubling to see that America still lags below 60% in voter turnout. Viewed as one of the healthiest democracies in the world, the United States is always referred to as an example that other countries should follow.
“Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy,” said Benito Mussolini. By the time one enters the third grade they become aware of concept of democracy. Specifically in America, one is taught that they live in a democratic society. When asking what is democracy, the answer is never truly defiente. The answers given may be; a society where everyone votes, or by dictionary definition “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of the state; typically through elected representation.”
Political parties serve countless roles in America’s government. Foremost, it needs to be said they are crucial to America’s political system. The political parties are the heart and brain of our government's body, urging people to conceive and feel different ways on different topics whether the controversy is over how money is distributed or the way immigrants should be treated or dealt with. With each party having a biased view it shows how a group can be increasingly powerful with bountiful amounts of support, names and divisions can be heard. Democrats are widely known to be liberal rather than conservative.