State of the union. Politics in red and blue

Description

Is the U.S. so divided into communities of the like-minded that people have stopped hearing any political opinion that differs from their own? This program reported by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos explores the polarizing phenomenon known as "the big sort" and how that detrimental force is reshaping activism, influencing the media, and suppressing bipartisan discourse in Congress. Stopovers at true-blue Montclair, New Jersey, and red-hot Franklin, Tennessee, illustrate this national trend, while experiments on the dynamics of group polarization and on the effects of "shout television" offer some startling insights. Interviews with U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Lindsey Graham; Bill Bishop, author of The Great Divide; Cass Sunstein, of The University of Chicago's law school; political activists Arline Isaacson, of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, and the Reverend Patrick Mahoney, of the Christian Defense Coalition; and Dan Burstein, co-author of blog!, are included.

Runtime

43 min

Subjects

Geography

Genre

Date of Publication

[2006], c2006

Database

Films on Demand

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