343. Timothy Redmond Political Tribalism in America: How Hyper-Partisanship Dumbs Down Democracy and How to Fix It
b'
The democratic ideal demands that the citizenry think critically about matters of public import. Yet many Democrats and Republicans in the United States have fallen short of that standard because political tribalism motivates them to acquire, perceive and evaluate political information in a biased manner. The result is an electorate that is more extreme, hostile and willing to reject unfavorable democratic outcomes.
Shermer and Redmond discuss: why we have political duopoly (Duverger\\u2019s law) \\u2022 parties vs. policies \\u2022 Are we living in a post-truth, fake-news, alternative facts world? \\u2022 How do we know political polarization is worse now than in the past? \\u2022 acquiring, perceiving, and evaluating political information \\u2022 evaluating: false political information, political numbers and arguments, claims of rigged election \\u2022 whataboutism \\u2022 cognitive responsibilities of citizenship \\u2022 cognitive biases \\u2022 political polarization \\u2022 myside bias \\u2022 numeracy vs. innumeracy \\u2022 solutions to the polarization problem.
Timothy J. Redmond received his PhD in political science from the University at Buffalo. He is an award-winning educator and author of over one hundred articles on critical thinking and politics. He is a professor at Daemen University where he teaches a political science and history course for education students.
'