Project 2- Connor Basin by Connor Basin

CENTRAL CLAIM

cb1395 — 2024-09-27 19:25:41 UTC

Kling's central claim is that political conversations throughout America can be divided into three separate groups that align with each idealogical group: Progressives, Conservatives, and Libertarians.

Axes

cb1395 — 2024-09-27 21:41:00 UTC

Progressives Axis: Oppressor vs. Oppressed

Conservative Axis: Civilization vs. Barbarism

Libertarian Axis: Freedom vs. Coercion

Key Terms used throughout map

cb1395 — 2024-09-29 20:00:37 UTC

Axes: Moral frameworks used by political groups

Polarization: Political polarization is the divergence of political attitudes away from the center, towards ideological extremes.

Fast political thinking: Coming to a conclusion quickly based upon a single axis

Slow political thinking: Thinking about a problem from multiple perspectives before drawing a definitive conclusion.

Tribalism: The tendency for people to align with a group of similar ideology while viewing those of different ideologies negatively

Related Claims/Sub Claims

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 02:52:52 UTC

Political Polarization is reinforced by the Axes

Slow Political Thinking can alleviate Polarization

Each Axis gives each group the power to assert moral superiority

Critique- The Model cannot be applied to everyone

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 03:08:02 UTC

The Three-Axis Model doesn't apply to those from different time periods, those who don't live in the United States, and those who are not politically aware.

Response- The Three Axis Model isn't supposed to be applied universally

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 03:23:14 UTC

The Three Axis Model isn't only meant for as Kling states "politically-aware contemporary Americans." So as to say those are currently live in the U.S. who are involved in modern politics.

Critique- The model oversimplifies political communication

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 03:30:11 UTC

The Three-Axis model oversimplifies political ideas by using it to describe those very political ideologies while also grouping people and their beliefs into said axes.

Response- The model doesn't serve to explain the different political ideologies

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 03:32:15 UTC

The Three-Axis model doesn't serve to explain the different political ideologies but to show we communicate to each other about our own political beliefs.

John Tooby on Coalition Formation

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 03:46:29 UTC

Describes how people like to align themselves with a specific axis to form their political ideals.

Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow”

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 04:05:09 UTC

Kling borrows Kahneman's ideas of fast and slow thinking in the context of political discourse.

Donald Trump Phenomenon:

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 04:09:38 UTC

Progressives: Consider Trump's followers and speech to be racist and oppressive.

Conservatives: There is disagreement among conservatives over him; some regard him as barbarian and uncivilized, while others see him as defending American culture.

Libertarians: His authoritarian tendencies are criticized by libertarians, who see his policies as dangers to individual liberty.

Black Lives Matter Movement:

cb1395 — 2024-09-30 04:11:15 UTC

Progressive framing: Examples of oppression include racism and police violence.

Conservative framing: Riots from protests endangers the stability of society (civilization vs. barbarism).

Libertarian framing: Excessive force and overpolicing are examples of coercion.

Polarization

cb1395 — 2024-10-12 01:51:20 UTC

As to Arnold Kling's explanation, political polarization results from the way progressives, conservatives, and libertarians present issues through different moral "axes." Conservatives stress civilization vs. barbarism, progressives emphasize oppressor vs. oppressed dynamics, and libertarians emphasize liberty vs coercion. Since each group sees issues through the lens of its own ideology, these opposing points of view prevent genuine discussion. This feeds into polarization, which makes people less receptive to differing opinions and more set in their ways, ultimately creating a more polarized and fractured political dialogue.

Slow Political Thinking

cb1395 — 2024-10-12 01:57:32 UTC

The idea of slow political thought is strongly related to Arnold Kling's central claim in The Three Languages of Politics, which is that different ideological "axes" polarize political discourse. It is necessary for people to look beyond their initial ideological lens—whether it be the libertarian freedom-coercion axis, the conservative civilization-barbarism axis, or the progressive oppressor-oppressed axis—and critically consider problems from several angles while engaging in slow political thinking. By allowing people to understand the moral frameworks that others use, Kling believes that calm, introspective thought can help close the gap between these axes and foster more deliberate and nuanced political discourse as opposed to polarization.

Tribalism

cb1395 — 2024-10-12 02:02:30 UTC

Understanding how tribalism occurs in contemporary politics requires a knowledge of Kling's concept of political tribes, each consisting of libertarians, conservatives, and progressives that each operate along their own axis. Tribalism makes people more devoted to their opinions than to having reasoned conversations, which increases division. According to Kling, people only interact with those who share their axis of thinking in echo chambers created by these tribal ties, which are strengthened by quick thinking and ideological lenses. This "us vs. them" mentality brought on by tribal devotion makes it difficult to understand or empathize with opposing ideas, which further divides political discussion.