Uncivil agreement
Subtitle: how politics became our identity
By: Lilliana Mason
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 183
ISBN-13: 9780226524405; 9780226524542; 9780226524689
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: Politics and government; Political parties; Political activists; Party affiliation
Description: "Political polarization in America is at an all-time high, and the conflict has moved beyond disagreements about matters of policy. Research has shown that, for the first time in more than twenty years, majorities of both parties hold strongly unfavorable views of their opponents. This is polarization rooted in social identity, and it is growing. The campaign and election of Donald Trump laid bare this fact of the American electorate, its successful rhetoric of "us versus them" tapping into a powerful current of anger and resentment. Lilliana Mason looks at the growing social gulf between the two major political parties along racial, religious, and cultural lines. She argues that group identifications have changed the way we think and feel about ourselves and our opponents. Even when Democrats and Republicans can agree on policy outcomes, they tend to view one another with distrust and to work for party victory over all else. Although the polarizing effects of social divisions have simplified our electoral choices and increased political engagement, they have not been a force that is, on balance, helpful for American democracy"--back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages [163]-175) and index.
Table of contents: title: Identity-based democracy; title: Using old words in new ways; title: A brief history of social sorting; title: Partisan prejudice; title: Socially sorted parties; title: The outrage and elation of partisan sorting; title: Activism for the wrong reasons; title: Can we fix it?