http://www.profswitzer.com/blog/2009/12/divided-we-fall/ Economics, Politics, Entertainment and Life in Academia Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:41:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://www.profswitzer.com/blog/2009/12/divided-we-fall/comment-page-1/#comment-4253 Benjamin Seghers Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:19:22 +0000 http://www.profswitzer.com/blog/?p=1163#comment-4253 Great post. I would agree with the idea most Americans are actually rather homogeneous in ideology. The distinctions between Democrat and Republican are pretty marginal (you named a few). They attempt to seem like very different parties (for reasons you point out), but I hope and think most Americans see right through it. There's wide agreement on many issues, as Gadell is pointing out. That's what can unite us. I think more important is the disparity between public opinion and elite opinion. Gadell highlights it, and I think it's rather important and has been throughout much of American history. The real question, in my mind, is how we overcome the disparity between public and elite opinion. Great post. I would agree with the idea most Americans are actually rather homogeneous in ideology. The distinctions between Democrat and Republican are pretty marginal (you named a few). They attempt to seem like very different parties (for reasons you point out), but I hope and think most Americans see right through it. There’s wide agreement on many issues, as Gadell is pointing out. That’s what can unite us. I think more important is the disparity between public opinion and elite opinion. Gadell highlights it, and I think it’s rather important and has been throughout much of American history. The real question, in my mind, is how we overcome the disparity between public and elite opinion.

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