Social Sciences

Now that you have been introduced to the functions of government in Chapter 14 and the democratic process in the U.S. in Chapter 16, watch the following two videos from the Pew Research Center about political polarization in the U.S. “How Republican and Democratic Voters Have Changed Since 1992” and “How Polarizing Is Donald Trump?”. Answer the following questions in a post of at least 150 words:

According to the videos, how has the demographic composition of the Republican and Democratic parties changed over time?
How have these demographic changes influenced the political views of the Republican and Democratic parties?
In your opinion, how has the growing political polarization in the U.S. impacted the ability of the government to perform its basic functions? Do you think it has been harmful to democracy in the U.S.?
Post Requirements:

Your answer must be written in one short, clear, and coherent paragraph (at least 150 original words), i.e. it DOES NOT include the questions, names, titles, and/or references. It also DOES NOT include meaningless filler statements.
Respond to at least two (2) classmates with substantive commentary that addresses their post.
Work must be original, so produce your own work! Your post may be checked for plagiarism.
Write clearly for ease of reading and understanding.
Make sure to pay attention to spelling and grammar.
The instructor reserves the right to submit work in SafeAssign. SafeAssign reports with a similarity index of 10% or higher after quoted material and citations are excluded, will receive a grade of F (0 points).

Links: https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=109&v=9UMnQq_LRQs&feature=emb_logo

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=155&v=UhZSTfJbZXU&feature=emb_logo

ANSWER

Political Polarization

The demographics of the Republicans and Democrats have in terms of age, race, education, and religions. According to the videos, the Democratic voters are currently younger than they were in 1992, while the republican voting block is composed of older people than they were in 19992. There are also more black democratic voters and more white democratic voters respectively than they were during the same period. In both cases, most voters are currently not affiliated to any specific religion than were in the past years. The democratic voters with a college degree have equally grown to surpass those of their republican counterparts over the same period.

These changes have created competition between the supporters of the two parties on matters such as politics and the economy. The house was more divided than before over the management of the economy and budgets with the republicans opting for an economy and a political dispensation that favors the American over immigrants. The tension between the Democratic and Republican supporters also reached an all-time high because of these changes. The problem became worse during the Trump administration with the attempts to change the immigration laws and close the US-Mexican border.

The Trump administration has been cited as the most polarizing following the increased divisions in the house of congress and the supporters of the two parties. The differences in the interest of the Trump supporters and their leaders caused more divisions with the president leading from the front. It was thought that Trump would act as a neutral figure in some of the emotive debates to quell the tensions. However, his failure to do so further heightened the situation, making him the most polarizing president in the history of US politics.