Book
Why we're polarized / Ezra Klein.
America's political system isn't broken: it's working exactly as designed. But Klein reveals how that system is polarizing us -- and how we are polarizing it -- with disastrous results. In examining the structural and psychological forces behind America's descent into division and dysfunction, he shows that everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics. Now our racial, religious, geographic, ideological, and cultural identities have attained a weight that is breaking much in our politics and tearing at the bonds that hold this country together.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781476700366 (trade paperback)
- Physical Description: xxiii, 322 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
- Edition: First Avid Reader trade paperback edition.
- Publisher: New York, NY : Avid Reader Press, 2021.
- Copyright: ©2020
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Originally published in hardcover: New York, NY : Avid Reader Press, 2020. |
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-296) and index. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | What didn't happen -- How Democrats became liberals and Republicans became conservatives -- The Dixiecrat dilemma -- Your brain on groups -- The press secretary in your mind -- Demographic threat -- Interlude -- The media divide beyond left-right -- Post-persuasion elections -- When bipartisanship becomes irrational -- The difference between Democrats and Republicans -- Managing polarization--and ourselves. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Polarization (Social sciences) Right and left (Political science) Identity politics > United States. Political culture > United States. |
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | 306.20973 Kle | 31681010295285 | NONFICPBK | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
"Klein shows how and why American politics polarized around identity in the 20th century, and what that polarization did to the way we see the world and one another. And he traces the feedback loops between polarized political identities and polarized political institutions that are driving our system toward crisis"-- - Simon and Schuster
ONE OF BARACK OBAMAâS FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022
One of Bill Gatesâs â5 books to read this summer,â this New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller shows us that Americaâs political system isnât broken. The truth is scarier: itâs working exactly as designed. In this âsuperbly researchedâ (The Washington Post) and timely book, journalist Ezra Klein reveals how that system is polarizing usâand how we are polarizing itâwith disastrous results.
âThe American political systemâwhich includes everyone from voters to journalists to the presidentâis full of rational actors making rational decisions given the incentives they face,â writes political analyst Ezra Klein. âWe are a collection of functional parts whose efforts combine into a dysfunctional whole.â
âA thoughtful, clear and persuasive analysisâ (The New York Times Book Review), Why Weâre Polarized reveals the structural and psychological forces behind Americaâs descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trumpâs rise to the Democratic Partyâs leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture.
America is polarized, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics. Over the past fifty years in America, our partisan identities have merged with our racial, religious, geographic, ideological, and cultural identities. These merged identities have attained a weight that is breaking much in our politics and tearing at the bonds that hold this country together.
Klein shows how and why American politics polarized around identity in the 20th century, and what that polarization did to the way we see the world and one another. And he traces the feedback loops between polarized political identities and polarized political institutions that are driving our system toward crisis.
âWell worth readingâ (New York magazine), this is an âeye-openingâ (O, The Oprah Magazine) book that will change how you look at politicsâand perhaps at yourself.
