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SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

LESSON 1 - THE DIVIDE


Key takeaway: This lesson will furnish students with a more nuanced political lens that will
allow them to see beyond the simplistic partisanship that reduces our nation to a country of red
states versus blue states. They will be able to interpret the divides in our electorate with a deeper
understanding and appreciate that these divides need not be seen as insurmountable.

Lesson Structure:
1. Begin the class by watching the chapter Divide [17 minutes]
2. Initial discussion on students reaction to the film (details below) [10 minutes]
3. Classroom activity: Three ways of understanding the Divide [15 minutes]
4. Assignment: Voting Here at Home [5 minutes]

Materials:
1. Worksheet 1.1 – Polling Data Illustrating the Divide
2. Worksheet 1.2 - Maps Illustrating the Divide
3. Worksheet 1.3 – Op-ed Article Illustrating the Divide

Initial Discussion: Reiterate the five commonly cited characteristics of the divide the first
chapter of the film explores:
1. Rural/Urban
2. Culture
3. Morality
4. Race
5. Class

Through a show of hands, have students vote on which characteristic of the divide they see as
most pronounced in their community. Have them explain and support their choice.

Through group discussion, explore the divide characteristic, which received the most
votes. Below are examples of possible discussion questions for two of characteristics: the
rural/urban divide and the class divide.

Rural/Urban: The debate over which party represents the interests of rural communities (‘the
Heartland’) and which party represents the interests of urban communities (‘the Coasts’).
o What does it mean to be the party of rural America? The party of urban America?
o Which area do the Republicans represent?  Why?
o Which area do the Democrats represent? Why?
o Is there a general consensus? As an exercise, have students make the case why each
party could plausibly be paired with either urban or rural America.

Class: The debate over which party represents the interests of the Working Class (‘the party
of Main Street’) and which represents the interests of the Wealthy (‘the party of Wall Street’).
o What does it mean to be the party of Main Street? The party of Wall Street?
o Which street does the Republican Party represent?  Why?
o Which street does the Democratic Party represent? Why?
o Is there a general consensus? As an exercise, have students make the case why each
party could plausibly be paired with either urban or rural America.
 
SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

CLASS ACTIVITY - UNDERSTANDING THE


DIVIDE
This lesson plan provides three different ways of understanding the divide, introducing key
analytical skills in the class activities.

1. Understanding the Divide through Statistics - [Introductory Level]


This class activity incorporates exit poll data from the 2004 presidential election
affording students the opportunity of analyzing the statistics illustrating the divide in
greater detail. Discussion questions focus on helping students interpret the statistics to
better understand the population they describe.
2. Understanding the Divide through Maps - [Intermediate Level]
This class activity presents three maps which illustrate partisan voting patterns in
ascending degree of specificity. Through discussion of the information presented by each
map – comparing and contrasting their relative value in understanding the divide -
students are able to be evaluate the depth of our division.
3. Understanding the Divide through Editorial Journalism - [Advanced Level]
This class activity presents an Op-Ed article about the partisan divide, along with
questions for discussion.
SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

UNDERSTANDING THE DIVIDE THROUGH


STATISTICS
Distribute the handouts of Worksheet 1.1 – Polling Data Illustrating the Divide. Give students a
few minutes to think over the charts, and then open up the class for a discussion.

Discussion Questions

o What do these charts tell you about the attitudes of each group? Where is the largest
difference between candidate preferences? Where is the least? Go as in-depth as
possible.
o What do they not tell you? [Hint: they don’t tell us the reason that people from a given
group prefer a given candidate. For example, if there’s a Protestant with a high school
education who lives in a rural area, which of those three reasons accounts for their
candidate preference? We can’t tell from the chart why they vote the way they do.]
o For each chart, what other information is necessary to understand what is really going
on? How could you dig deeper?
o Do the group voting patterns illustrated by the chart match those commonly portrayed in
the media? If not, where do the two images presented differ most radically? Why might
that be?
SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

WORKSHEET 1.1 - POLLING DATA ILLUSTRATING THE DIVIDE


VOTE BY RACE
BUSH KERRY
White (77%) 58% 41%
African-American (11%) 11% 88%
Latino (8%) 44% 53%
Asian (2%) 44% 56%
Other (2%) 40% 54%

VOTE BY INCOME
BUSH KERRY
Less Than $50,000 (45%) 44% 55%
$50,000 or More (55%) 56% 43%

VOTE BY COMMUNITY SIZE


BUSH KERRY
Urban (30%) 45% 54%
Suburban (46%) 52% 47%
Rural (25%) 57% 42%

VOTE BY EDUCATION LEVEL


BUSH KERRY
COMPLETED
No High School (4%) 49% 50%
H.S. Graduate (22%) 52% 47%
Some College (32%) 54% 46%
College Graduate (26%) 52% 46%
Postgrad Study (16%) 44% 55%

VOTE BY RELIGION
BUSH KERRY
Protestant (54%) 59% 40%
Catholic (27%) 52% 47%
Jewish (3%) 25% 74%
Other (7%) 23% 74%
None (10%) 31% 67%

VOTE BY FREQUENCY OF
RELIGIOUS SERVICES BUSH KERRY
ATTENDANCE
More Than Weekly (16%) 64% 35%
Weekly (26%) 58% 41%
Monthly (14%) 50% 49%
A Few Times a Year (28%) 45% 54%
Never (15%) 36% 62%
SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

UNDERSTANDING THE DIVIDE THROUGH


MAPS
Distribute the handouts of Worksheet 1.2 – Maps Data Illustrating the Divide. After giving them
the chance to study the maps for a few moments, open up the class for a group discussion guided
by the questions below. [Note: Maps must be viewed in color.]

Discussion Questions

o On the “Electoral College Votes in 2004” map.


• Since the Electoral College system is a winner-take-all system, presidential
campaign strategy focuses intensely on several “swing states.” Discuss why
candidates spend significantly more time and money on swing states like Ohio and
Florida than on New York (a blue state) and Texas (a red state). What impact does
this have on American politics as a whole? What does it mean for the split?
• This map shows clear divisions, but it would be inaccurate to say that every area
shaded red on the map is conservative, and every area shaded blue is liberal. Why?
• Make a list of the pros and cons of the winner take method of allocating states
electoral college votes.

o On the “Votes by County in 2004” map.


• Based on this map, it would seem that Republicans (in red) dominate the electorate.
But the election was actually extremely close. – 50.7% voting for President Bush
and 48.3% voting for Senator Kerry Why are there so many more red areas than
blue if the two candidates received roughly the same number of votes?
• What does the county by county map illustrate that the Electoral College Map did
not?
• What basic assertions could you make in terms of national voting trends? (consider
the five divide characteristic cited in the Divide chapter of the documentary you just
watched)
• How would a campaign manager use these assertions to develop a successful
campaign strategy? What would be the effect on the community be of this strategy?

o On the “Purple America” map.


• This map was made by a professor who objected to the traditional Electoral College
map. What do you think his objection was, and how does his map attempt to
combat it?
• What determines whether an area is red, blue, or purple? What patterns can you
discern?
• Find your home. Does it appear red, blue, or purple? Based on your personal
experience, does the map accurately reflect your community? Why or why not?
• The first two maps seem to come to different conclusions. Which is more accurate?
Why?
SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

WORKSHEET 1.2 -MAPS ILLUSTRATING THE DIVIDE


Electoral College Map
2004 Presidential Election

Votes by County
2004 Presidential Election

Purple America
2004 Presidential Election
SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

UNDERSTANDING THE DIVIDE THROUGH


JOURNALISM
Distribute the handouts of Worksheet 1.3 – Op-Ed Article Illustrating the Divide. After giving
them the chance to read the article, open up the class for a group discussion guided by the
questions below.

Discussion Questions

• What are Brooks’ arguments? List as many as you can.


• Which do you most agree with?
• What is his point about the media? Do you find that to be true in your own life? Why or
why not?
• Are his main points still applicable to this election?
• What is his solution to the problem? Do you think it would be effective? Why or why
not? What are some other suggestions?
SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

WORKSHEET 1.3 – OP-ED ARTICLE ILLUSTRATING THE DIVIDE

June 29, 2004

Age Of Political Segregation


By DAVID BROOKS

I've been writing about polarization a fair bit recently, and the more I look into it, the more I think I'll
just move to Tahiti. That's because the causes of polarization -- at least among elites -- have little to do
with passing arguments about the war, the Bush leadership style or the Clinton scandals. The causes
are deeper and structural.

To a large degree, polarization in America is a cultural consequence of the information age. This sort
of economy demands and encourages education, and an educated electorate is a polarized electorate.

In theory, of course, education is supposed to help us think independently, to weigh evidence and
make up our own minds. But that's not how it works in the real world. Highly educated people may
call themselves independents, but when it comes to voting they tend to pick a partisan side and stick
with it. College-educated voters are more likely than high-school-educated voters to vote for
candidates from the same party again and again.

That's because college-educated voters are more ideological. As the Emory political scientist Alan
Abramowitz has shown, a college-educated Democrat is likely to be more liberal than a high-school-
educated Democrat, and a college-educated Republican is likely to be more conservative than a high-
school-educated Republican. The more you crack the books, the more likely it is you'll shoot off to the
right or the left.

Once you've joined a side, the information age makes it easier for you to surround yourself with
people like yourself. And if there is one thing we have learned over the past generation, it's that we are
really into self-validation.

We don't only want radio programs and Web sites from members of our side -- we want to live near
people like ourselves. Information age workers aren't tied down to a mine, a port or a factory. They
have more opportunities to shop for a place to live, and they tend to cluster in places where people
share their cultural aesthetic and, as it turns out, political values. So every place becomes more like
itself, and the cultural divides between places become stark. The information age was supposed to
make distance dead, but because of clustering, geography becomes more important.

The political result is that Republican places become more Republican and Democratic places become
more Democratic. Between 1948 and 1976, most counties in the U.S. became more closely divided
between Republicans and Democrats. In 1976, Gerald Ford, a Republican, could win most of New
England and the entire Pacific coast, and he almost won New York.

But since then we've been segregating politically. As Bill Bishop of The Austin American-Statesman
has found, the number of counties where one party or another has a landslide majority has doubled
SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

over the past quarter-century. Whole regions are now solidly Democratic or Republican. Nearly three-
quarters of us, according to Bishop, live in counties that are becoming less competitive, and many of
us find ourselves living in places that are overwhelmingly liberal or overwhelmingly conservative.

When we find ourselves in such communities, our views shift even further in the dominant direction.
You get this self-reinforcement cycle going, which social scientists call ''group polarization.'' People
lose touch with others in opposing, now distant, camps. And millions of kids are raised in what
amount to political ghettoes.

It's pretty clear that nobody in this election campaign is going to talk much about any of this. This
election will apparently be decided on the question of whether it was worth it to go to war in Iraq.
That's sucking the air out of every other issue, and inducing the candidates to run orthodox,
unimaginative campaigns.

Still, it's worth thinking radically. An ambitious national service program would ameliorate the
situation. If you had a big but voluntary service program of the sort that Evan Bayh, a Democrat, and
John McCain, a Republican, proposed a couple of years ago, millions of young people would find
themselves living with different sorts of Americans and spending time in parts of the country they
might otherwise know nothing about.

It might even be worth monkeying with our primary system. The current primaries reward orthodox,
polarization-reinforcing candidates. Open, nonpartisan primaries might reward the unorthodox and
weaken the party bases. To do nothing is to surrender to a lifetime of ugliness.

© The New York Times, 2004


SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA LESSON 1 – THE DIVIDE

ASSIGNMENT – VOTING HERE AT HOME


Do research into the voting history of your own county. Your work could culminate in a short
paper or an oral presentation.

 Topics to explore include:


• In the last election, was it blue, red or purple?
• Has the area remained the same in the last generation? The last fifty years? The last
hundred years – what has caused these changes?
• What is the demographic makeup of the area? Think about religion, income,
race/ethnicity, and population density? How does this help explain/influence voting
patterns?
• Explore and investigate the history of the area. In addition to textual research and
study, it might be useful to solicit first person accounts of the changes in the area
through engaging in conversations with parents, teachers, neighbors and religious
leaders.

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