Matthew Levendusky Libri

"The Annenberg IOD Collaborative is composed of: Matthew Levendusky, Josh Pasek, R. Lance Holbert, Bruce Hardy, Kate Kenski, Yotam Ophir, Andrew Renninger, Dan Romer, Dror Walter, Ken Winneg, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson."

The book explores how exposure to partisan programming influences American viewers, leading to increased certainty in their beliefs. It highlights that such programming makes individuals less open to considering opposing viewpoints and less inclined to compromise, supported by experiments and survey data.

This popular brief text for the one-semester or one-quarter American Government course maintains the framework of the Wilson, DiIulio, Bose, and Levendusky comprehensive text, emphasizing the historical development of the American political system, who governs, and to what ends. The 13th edition of AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: INSTITUTIONS AND POLICIES, BRIEF VERSION, offers coverage of the 2014 and 2016 campaigns and elections; budget battles and the sequestration of funds; ongoing debates about immigration, gay marriage, and other key issues in American politics; and foreign-policy decisions on Afghanistan, the Middle East, and North Korea. We have also reworked each chapter to focus on a clear set of learning objectives to guide students through the material. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

Americans today are affectively polarized: they dislike and distrust those from the opposing political party more than they did in the past, with damaging consequences for their democracy. This Element examines this affective polarization present in American politics, arguing that intergroup discussions can mitigate partisan animosity.

"One of the defining features of twenty-first century American politics has been the rise of affective polarization: Americans increasingly report that they distrust and dislike those from the other party and want to avoid interacting with them in a wide range seemingly non-political contexts, from Thanksgiving dinners to dating. This has damaging downstream consequences: many studies and evidence from our everyday lives shows that affective polarization reduces electoral accountability, weakens support for the democratic norms, and makes it more difficult for Americans to responded to crises, such as COVID-19. What, if anything, can be done? Our Common Bonds shows that-although affective polarization has multiple causes and there is no silver bullet that will eradicate it-there are concrete interventions that can reduce it. Matthew Levendusky argues that partisan animus stems in part from individuals misperceiving how much they have in common with those from the other party. Survey and experimental evidence show that priming shared identities and connections outside of politics can help people to reframe the lens through which they evaluate the out-party and, in so doing, turn down the partisan temperature"--

"Generations of political scientists argue that American politics needs strong, cohesive parties to function effectively. Yet more recently, many worry that such vigorous partisan sentiments--most notably, the rising hostility between the parties--can damage democracy, as partisans willingly undermine the system if it means stopping their disliked opponents. Is this the case? This book offers a nuanced evaluation of when and how partisan animosity matters in today's highly charged--but fluid--political environment, using data from two of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, 2019 to 2021. The authors show that partisan animus powerfully shapes political behaviors, but its effects are conditional, not constant. They develop a theory of the conditions that make partisan animosity most salient, and show that, in the absence of these, other thought processes take over. While partisan animosity makes democratic functioning more difficult (e.g., by politicizing seemingly non-political issues, undermining compromise), it does not inevitably lead to democratic erosion (e.g., the rejection of foundational democratic norms or the endorsement of violence). Partisan hostility has degraded American democracy, but it does not in itself represent an existential threat. The future of democracy depends on how politicians respond to the rise of animosity"--