Introduction to American Politics online course discussion – West Book, Ch8

I don’t understand this Political Science question and need help to study.

Be sure to read carefully and share your thought after reading. Just aim to understand and digest material and thoughts. No need to memorize anything. Also, comment constructively on a classmates’ posting.

(I will attach Chapter 8 of the book)

West, Ch EIGHT “Overcoming Hyperconflict” p167

Widespread Polarization 168

Diverging Identities 169

Mistrust and Intolerance 172

Opponents as Enemies 173

Political Sorting 177

The Decline of Facts 178

Reconciling Differences 180

Take a Conservative or Liberal to Lunch 185

Here is classmate’s posting from question. Please reply in 1st person point of view.

Classmate’s post

In chapter eight of West’s book he talks about many different sub topics but the main focus of this chapter was overcoming hyperconflict. He says, “Many political, economic, and cultural factors have intensified hyperconflict over the years and made it difficult for opposing forces to understand one another. This includes major political gyrations, disruptive economic shifts, the loss of educational opportunities, identity politics, religious tensions, a backlash against globalization and immigration, and concerns regarding special influence by the wealthy.”(West, pg.167)This shows us all the conflicts that are created and disrupted. He talks about what we fight for and what we fight with contributes and lies under the party category and causes more and more division among our nation. He goes on to say, “As a result to those dissagreements, our system faces a number of risks. They include widespread polarization, diverging identities, mistrust and intolerance, a tendancy to define opponents as enemies, political sorting on a part of many americans, and a decline of facts in civil discourse.”(West, pg. 167-168) The fact of the matter is if we don’t change within our country, we will be a fully divided country and a divided country is a weak country. He talks a lot about what is causing our division but one I like to focus on and one that caught my attention was the last one, “Take a Conservative or Liberal to Lunch.” This subtopic really caught my attention because if everyone in America did this, we would have no division and if we did it would be way less than it is now. This shows us that there are solutions to our problems and that they can be solved. He says, “Reasearch has shown that if people have direct, personal experience with those who are different from themselves, they are more likely to form constructive relationships… But if people talk with those having alternative viewpoints, it would help them see their adversaries as indivisuals, not dangerous adversaries.” (West, pg. 168) So in this chapter, he not only tells us what is dividing and causing problems in our country but he is also giving us solutions and showing us differerent ways of solving those problems.

Work Cited:

“Chapter 8 Hyperconflict” Divided Politics, Divided Nation: Hyperconflict in the Trump Era, by Darrell M. West, Brookings Institution Press, 2019.