AMERICAN SOCIETY CLASS DEBATE AFFIRMATIVE CASE

I would like to open and frame this debate with a quotation from
Iranian American poet and university professor Azar Nafisi: I see
people who talk about America, and then undermine it by not paying
attention to its soul, to its poetry. I see polarization,
reductionism and superficiality. (AZIR NAFISI)

DEFINITIONS

In order to offer the audience some clarification on our debate, I

would like to offer up the following definition of terms; taken
from the Merriam-Webster Learners Dictionary online.

Polarization: To cause (people, opinions, etc.) to separate

into opposing groups.

Political: Of or relating to politics or government; Relating

to the things people do to gain or keep power or an advantage
within a group, organization, etc.

ARGUMENTS

With the definitions for this debate clarified, we believe that the
resolution of this debate is absolutely and one hundred percent
correct. We present the following three opening arguments as
support for our position.

I.

American broadcast media has become more and more polarized

since the unfortunate 1987 abolition of the Fairness Doctrine
by the Federal Communications Commission. In 1949 the Federal
Communications Commission or FCC required that all broadcast
license holders cover public issues in some manner and that
they do so in a way was fair to all positions taken on the

issue. The goal was to ensure that broadcast media exposed the
public to a diversity of opinions and perspectives. Two
additional rules of the Fairness Doctrine required that any
broadcaster making an editorial attack against a person or
group also allow that person or group to respond to the attack
on their program, and that any broadcaster endorsing a
candidate during an election also give time to unendorsed
candidates during their program. The Fairness Doctrine was
ultimately abolished under the belief that American
broadcasters had the right to present only a single point of
view on any issue of public importance, if they choose. This
regrettable turning point in American history ultimately
produced the polarization of American broadcast media that we
see now in the 21st century because it allows networks such as
the Fox News Channel to present single perspective propaganda
on all controversial issues of public importance.

II.

The American public has become increasingly sorted along

ideological and partisan lines. Since the year 2000 both
primary political parties in the United States have seen
dramatic ideological shifts in their constituents toward their
particular poles. Republicans who identified as 60 percent
conservative in the year 2000 now identify as more than 70
percent conservative in the present decade while Democrats
identifying as liberal have increased from 29 percent of the
party constituency to nearly half of all party constituents. A
consequence of this shift means that there are fewer moderates
voting as members of the two most representative American
political parties.

III. Voter turnout?