US Political Science Introduction to American Government Discussion – Description
Discussion 3: Partisan Preference
In Lecture 12, we discussed several aspects of partisanship in the United States:
the functions that parties serve in the United States
how the parties have changed over time in terms of ideological positioning and affect towards one another.
how our political preferences and partisan attachments are formed
how our political ideologies and partisanship relate to our moral values and social networks
how partisanship is exacerbated by the media, both offline and online.
This week, you are asked to think about the elements that may have played a role in forming your political preferences.
Considering all of the above, your discussion topic for the week:
What combination of factors do you think explain the political preferences and/or partisan identity you have today? In your post, you should consider much of the following:
You do not have to identify openly with a given party or ideology if you do not want, but you are encouraged to do so if you feel comfortable doing so. If you do not want to, you can talk about the origins of your political beliefs while being discreet about the nature your specific preferences.
If you don’t feel like you have many clear preferences and/or a clear partisan identity, that’s fine! Answer the question instead from the perspective of what combination of factors you think led you to feel conflicted about various aspects of politics. If you have very little prior exposure to American politics, you also might talk about what factors have led you to have relatively little exposure.
Our political preferences are formed by some combination of all of the following – parental/familial influence; personality and interests; demographic factors (ethnicity/gender/religion/sexuality/etc.); highly salient political events; particularly influential figures in politics or society; influence from teachers/education; interest in a single political issue that led to position-taking on other issues; whether you grew up in an urban/rural/suburban area; which general region of the country you grew up in. This list is here to help you brainstorm some ideas, but if there is something key in your experience not listed here, please feel free to talk about it!
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