eBook - PDF

The Disappearing Center

Name: The Disappearing Center
ISBN: 9780300162882

Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy

Alan I. Abramowitz,

224 pages
English
PDF
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - PDF

The Disappearing Center

Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy

Alan I. Abramowitz,

About this book

Renowned political scientist Alan I. Abramowitz presents a groundbreaking argument that the most important divide in American politics is not between left and right but rather between citizens who are politically engaged and those who are not. It is the engaged members of the public, he argues, who most closely reflect the ideals of democratic citizenship—but this is also the group that is most polarized. Polarization at the highest levels of government, therefore, is not a sign of elites’ disconnection from the public but rather of their responsiveness to the more politically engaged parts of it. Though polarization is often assumed to be detrimental to democracy, Abramowitz concludes that by presenting voters with clear choices, polarization can serve to increase the public’s interest and participation in politics and strengthen electoral accountability.

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Information

Publisher

Yale University Press

Year

2010

eBook ISBN

9780300162882

Edition

Topic

Politics & International Relations

Subtopic

Politics

Index

Politics & International Relations

In

recent 

years 

a

number 

of

pundits 

and

political 

commentators 

have

claimed 

that 

ordinary 

Americans 

are

turned 

off

by

the

hyperpartisanship

and

polarization 

that 

they 

see

in

Washington. 

In

their 

view, 

most 

Ameri-

cans 

have 

little 

interest 

in

the

ideological 

battles 

that 

preoccupy 

the

politi-

cians 

and

their 

activist 

supporters, 

and

they 

have 

become 

increasingly 

frus-

trated 

that 

Democrats 

and

Republicans 

are

unable 

or

unwilling 

to

work

together 

to

address 

the

major 

problems 

facing 

the

country. 

As

a

result, 

we

are

told, 

ordinary 

Americans 

are

losing 

faith 

in

the

political 

process. 

But

the

evidence 

from 

the

2004

ANES 

casts 

serious 

doubt 

on

this 

argument. 

Even

allowing 

for

the

tendency 

of

survey 

respondents 

to

exaggerate 

their 

political

activities, 

these 

results 

indicate 

that 

there 

was

a

fairly 

high 

level 

of

involve-

ment 

in

the

2004

campaign 

among 

the

American 

public. 

Moreover, 

evi-

dence 

from 

the

ANES 

time 

series 

shows 

that 

the

level 

of

political 

engage-

ment 

among 

the

public 

has

been 

increasing.

18

T

H

E

E

N

G

A

G

E

D

P

U

B

L

I

C

Figure 

2.1. 

Campaign-related 

activities 

in

2004. 

(

Source:

2004

American 

National 

Election 

Study.)

CONTENTS
PREFACE
1. Polarization in the Age of Obama
2. The Engaged Public
3. Partisan-Ideological Polarization
4. Polarization and Social Groups
5. Polarization and Elections
6. Polarization in a Changing Electorate
7. Polarization and Representation
8. Polarization and Democratic Governance
NOTES
INDEX

About this book

Frequently asked questions

Information

Table of contents