American Government: Critique on Political Polarization and Fake News

This assignment critically analyzes the impact of fake news and political polarization on American society, drawing from the provided readings. The assignment begins by summarizing the articles, which discuss how fake news can disrupt communities and how political divisions affect the American public. It then presents a critique, highlighting the shortcomings of the evidence used, particularly in the context of the Twin Falls case and the spread of misinformation through social media. The assignment concludes by posing questions about the future of American democracy and the role of government in addressing these societal challenges, such as how to mitigate the spread of false information and foster a more unified political environment amidst increasing social distrust.

Running head: AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 1
American Government
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 2
American Government
In a government dominated by two conflicting political groups, that is, the Democrats and
republicans, with differing ideologies and philosophies on political issues such as the role of
government, immigration, environmental policy and controls, and regulations; use of rumors and
unstructured news or reports could be used for political agendas. Worthwhile, this paper critiques
on the shortcomings and the questions raised from reports on a sex crime in Twin falls City and
political polarization in the American public.
Following the fake news in Twin Falls on a sex crime by some Syrians refugees, the news
begun circulating on social media platforms as rumors, which seemed as an anti-refugee
movement against the Syrian refugees who settled in that town, where the police gave no
evidence of such crimes. Furthermore, the minors were not involved in the reports. In the
American public polarization, politics and ideologies of each group are based on challenging the
legitimacy of the other group’s policies as they play the game of outweighing one another
instead of dealing with the issues affecting the public (Campbell, 2018). Social distrust has
developed due to the increasing tribal and ethnic diversities in America (Lelkes, 2016).
On would particularly wonder whether public ideologies and interests on politics will ever
promote the American solidarity and real Democracy as opposed to the occasional internal
infighting and anger as the two parties (republicans and Democrats) oppose each other. At which
point will the American government take measures or create agreements with the social
institutions on ways that the societal differences and threatening opinions will be dealt with.
Therefore, the greatest enemy to American society is the fight against the opposite party
as opposed to the external threats such as terrorism.

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 3
References
Campbell, J. E. (2018). Polarized: Making sense of a divided America. Princeton University
Press.
Lelkes, Y. (2016). Mass polarization: Manifestations and measurements. Public Opinion
Quarterly, 80(S1), 392-410.