Think PoliticallyBecoming a Responsible Citizen

The worth of the state , in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it.” - John Stuart Mill

HOW CAN YOU GOVERN YOURSELF IF YOU ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY???

• Was Iraq aligned with al Qaeda? Did Iraq help plan the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Did Iraq equip the 9/11 terrorists? Did Iraqis fly the passenger jets that ran in to the World

Trade Center? Was Saddam Hussein a tyrant who brutalized his people?

Americans live in the real world but think in an imagined one.

“… the general public’s political ignorance is appalling by any standard”Ackerman/Fishkin

• “More than half of all Americans agreed with the following statement:

• “Politics and government are so complicated that a person like me can’t really understand what’s going on.”

Uninformed citizens are not without opinions..which they express often and loudly.

What is Political Thinking?

• Political Thinking involves the careful gathering and sifting of information in the process of forming a knowledgeable view about a political issues. Political thinking enables citizens to act responsibly, whether in casting a vote, forming an opinion or contributing to a political cause.

Uninformed citizens are like the ancient mariners who , thinking the world was flat, stayed close to shore, believing they would sail off the edge if they ventured farther out to sea.

Democracy is a double edged sword

• You are free to make choices that may be destructive to democracy

• You are free to think the world is flat

• You are free to be racist

• You are free to be indifferent

• You are free to burn the flag

• You are free to be offensive

• You are free to burn a Koran

Barriers to Political Thinking

• Citizen’s are unwilling to make the effort!

• “Americans are Dangerously unready when the time comes to make a choice.” James Barber

•IDIOT!!!!Chris O’Donnell

Barriers to Political Thinking: Media

• Political information is more available and less trustworthy than ever before.

• “ Half of Americans now get most of their news from cable tv, talk shows, or Internet blogs. Most of these outlets – whether on the left or right – have dropped all pretense of accuracy.”

Barrier – Media

Mainstream news outlets are in the business of concocting versions of reality that will lure an audience and promote a cause.“ The talk show culture is a blur of rumor, fact, propaganda and infotainment” Ellen Hume

Iraq = Al Qaeda? Who told you that?

• During Iraq invasion, individuals who get information from cable television were more misinformed than citizens who rarely paid attention to news.

Admits his shortcomings

“News used to hold itself to a higher plane and slowly it hasdissolved into , well, me.It’s style over substance

Politicians Spin messages; create faulty perceptions

Like-minded thinking is dangerous - extremism

• People are keen to receive message that confirm what they already believe

The test of an opinion is not whether it sounds good by itself but whether it makes sense when held up to opposing viewsl

How Political Science Helps Political Thinking

• This Text will not try to tell you WHAT to think

• Instead, it will help you learn HOW to think politically by using a set of analytical tools that willsharpen your understanding of American politicsl

The Tools

• 1. Reliable information about US political systems

• 2. Systematic generalizations about major tendencies in American politics

• 3.Terms and Concepts that precisely describe key aspects of politics

Example: Obama Health Care

• US is only industrialized Western democracy that does not provide health care for all its citizens

• Obama was unable to persuade Congress to change this

• News coverage blamed intense opposition by insurance companies as main problem

• Republican threat of a filibuster allowed a Republican minority to impede a Democratic majority

Obama Healthcare meets Individualism

• America – with its great wilderness society, plentiful land, and no aristocracy to stifle ambitions of ordinary people believes in INDIVIDUAL OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY.

• Europe does not share this outlook.

• US ranks below almost all European countries in government spending on social welfare.

2009 Pew Survey – Only 24% of Americans agreed that the government has a responsibility to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves

Individualism leads to intense opposition

• Right after Obamacare bill was enacted, 65% of Americans believed that government’s role in healthcare system is too much.

America values education (?)

• Education is the path to success

• We started universal public education

• 40% of Americans enroll in college

• 25% of Americans have college degrees

• This is double most other countries

• Are you surprised?

• (6% of world population has college degree)

Bottom Line: Our cultural values strongly dictate American politics.