Political scientists have found that our nation is more polarized than it has been at any time since the Civil War.
Part I.
According to one historian: “Like him or hate him, the funeral coverage confirmed that Ronald Reagan was the greatest American President of the post-Watergate era—using the Time‘man of the year standard of the person who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill.'”Compare and contrast the leadership and accomplishments of the four two-term Presidents since 1980— Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, and rank them from best to worst. (Hint: Be sure to explain the criteria by which you rank them!)
In 1903, the great African American thinker and leader, W.E.B. Du Bois said “the problem of the Twentieth-Century is the problem of the color-line,” by which he meant the issues of race and racism. Discussing the United States between 1980 and Charlottesville, some have maintained that the most important issue in the United States “is the one no one really wants to talk about,” i.e. race and racism. Are they right? Why or why not?
Part II
3.A recent New York Times editorial observed, “Political scientists have found that our nation is more polarized than it has been at any time since the Civil War. One in six Americans has stopped talking to a family member or close friend because of the 2016 election. Millions of people organize their social lives and their news exposure along ideological lines to avoid people with opposing viewpoints. What’s ourproblem?”https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/02/opinion/sunday/political-polarization.htm. And some historianssee the period since 1974 as witnessing a “clash of cultures” in which Americans stopped speaking the same language and became polarized. They maintain that during this period “traditionalists,” who favored cultural conservatism (on issues such as abortion, gay rights, busing and affirmative action, for example.–just to raise a few issues that emerged before the midterm!) engaged in pitched battle with “non-traditionalists” who embraced the expansion of all Americans’ rights and sought to update lifestyles. How well does the “clash of cultures” theme describe the period from 1974 to the present? If the “clash of cultures” theme is apt, have Americans become increasinglypolarized over time? Or has the degree of polarization waxed and waned and, if so, why? And is there any theme that would better describe the period than the “clash of cultures”? If so, why is it superior? (Hint: To indicate why you consider another theme better, you would have to explain why the “clash of cultures” theme does not help us to understand this period as well as the theme you have chosen does.)
Answer preview Political scientists have found that our nation is more polarized than it has been at any time since the Civil War.
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