The Development of Modern American Politics Through Three Lenses

Abstract

Modern American politics are drastically different from the politics of the past. Our goal in POL-401 is to understand the development of modern American politics through three separate lenses, these being financialization, polarization, and the presidency.

Financialization relates to the development of the modern finance economy and all that came with it. This helps to understand the development of modern American economic politics, or in some ways a dismantling or lack-thereof. Polarization explores how the public has grown more divided and what the consequences of this division are for modern politics. Growing polarization leads to changes in how politics is exercised, changing various aspects of the US system. The presidency is observed through a trend of growing executive authority at the expense of other branches of government. Rising executive authority presents various challenges to the American public, and understanding the debates surrounding executive authority helps to understand the development of politics as a whole.