The United States as a Divided Nation

The U.S. as a Divided Nation discusses contemporary wedge issues in U.S. society. It provides historical context, explains current processes, policy formation as well as political and social change under way in the United States in order to provide an outlook on how to bridge differences.

Is the U.S. as a country still capable of finding common ground and effective policy responses in the 21st century, or are the dividing lines within U.S. society actually becoming too deep and too wide to bridge, with potentially grave consequences for American social, political as well as economic development? This book discusses important contemporary U.S. wedge issues such as gun rights, racial and economic inequality, the role of the state, the politics of culture, interpretations of history and collective memory, polarization in national politics, and factionalism in domestic and foreign policy. It provides readers with conceptual tools to grasp the complexity of the current processes, policy formation, and political and social change under way in the United States.

Autorentext

Marcin Grabowski is Assistant Professor at Chair of History of Diplomacy and International Politics at the Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland). Krytof Kozák is Head of the Department of American Studies at Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic). György Tóth is Assistant Professor at the Department of American Studies at Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic).

Inhalt
Contents: Marek Já: Adams vs. Jefferson: Divisions in the Nation's Foundations? Michael Rodegang Drescher: A Home in a Native Land: «Work(ing) On» Identity Formation Maxim Kucer: The Wealth that Divided the Nation: Educational Uplift in the Farmers' Movement of Gilded Age America Pawe Laidler: How the U.S. Supreme Court Reinforces Divisions in American Society Maarten Paulusse: Bridging the Divide: The Occupy Movement as a Site for Experiments in Religious Pluralism Radosaw Rybkowski: Between Equity and Opportunity: The Decline of the Great Equalizer Magorzata Zachara: The Second Amendment Dilemma - Social and Political Divisions over Gun Control in the United States Jolanta Szymkowska-Bartyzel: Divided by the Moving Image: Racism, Separatism and Political Correctness in American Cinema Maria Diaconu: In No One We Trust: Memorialization and Communicative Pathologies in Amy Waldman's The Submission Eva-Maria Kiefer: 9/11 Securitized? The Crisis as a Unifying Moment in U.S. History Helena Schulzová: Environmental Policy in the Doldrums: The Climate (of) Deadlock in the U.S. Congress Michael R. Wolf/J. Cherie Strachan/Daniel M. Shea: A House Divided: Will the American Tradition of «E Pluribus Unum» Prevail, or Will Fragmentation Undermine Democratic Governance? Styles Sass: No Country for Old Visions: The 2008 and 2012 Presidential Campaign Narratives Krytof Kozák: Superiors, Victims, or Neighbors? The Collective Memory Divide between Anglos and Mexicans Jan Hornát: Democracy Promotion: Competing Perspectives with Grave Consequences.