Blog

On the topic of assessing my blog grade, I would say that I am in the B range. I received an A for the first half of the semester. But, during the second half of the semester I missed a few blogs, and didn’t take others seriously. On the topic of my likes and dislikes to the blog, in general I liked doing it each week. It sure beats a 10 page paper due at the end of the semester. However, I grew weary of it during the second half of the semester. I think a better plan of action would be to have the blog for the first half of the semester, and then have a shorter paper due at the end of the semester. I also found it difficult to comment on other peoples blogs; I don’t know if it was laziness or whether it was just a dislike for reading other peoples blogs and than commenting on them.

Sorting

Sorting is the process where people who affiliate themselves with a political party, now affiliate with the ideolgicially correct party. The idea is that people are now voting with the party that is most close to there preferences. With the advent of the end ot the southern democrat, and the beginning of the true republican south, we have seen "true" ideological parties. The odd thing about parties as we see them today is that sorting has also helped to emerge two distinct ideological parties.

A critical era

First we must define what a critical era is. A critical era is a time where there are drastic changes followed by a period of relative stability. When answering the question as to whether of not the 90s were a critical era, I am going to suggest that it was. First we can look at what Aldrich constitutes as the four main factors determining a critical era. 1) Changes in attitudes of the public 2) Changes in the attitudes of the elites 3) Changes in the institutions 4) major changes in policies. I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constitutes a major change, and was than followed by a period of relative stability, which makes the 1990s a critical era. We saw changes in the attitudes of the public by ushering in a Republican party that had control of both branches of congress. We saw a change of attitude amongst the elite, who amongst other things, changed the institution of the House by casting away the seniority norm (which technically is not a institutional change), and by cutting down the amount of committees, and centralizing power to Newt Gingrich. These changes also made for some major policy changes, and one of the largest was a tax cut to the wealthiest group of Americans. Based upon Aldrich’s reasons for the presence of a critical era, I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constituted a major change followed by a period of relative stability, and therefore a critical era.

Is today stable? We can look at the same checklist provided by Aldrich. I am going to suggest that we are in a period of relative stability. We have ushered in a Democratic congress, but they are not overwhelming. The attitudes of the elites have not changed, and we can see this by the continuing war in Iraq. We have not seen any institutional changes, and we have not seen any major policy changes.

Critical Era

First we must define what a critical era is. A critical era is a time where there are drastic changes followed by a period of relative stability. When answering the question as to whether of not the 90s were a critical era, I am going to suggest that it was. First we can look at what Aldrich constitutes as the four main factors determining a critical era. 1) Changes in attitudes of the public 2) Changes in the attitudes of the elites 3) Changes in the institutions 4) major changes in policies. I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constitutes a major change, and was than followed by a period of relative stability, which makes the 1990s a critical era. We saw changes in the attitudes of the public by ushering in a Republican party that had control of both branches of congress. We saw a change of attitude amongst the elite, who amongst other things, changed the institution of the House by casting away the seniority norm (which technically is not a institutional change), and by cutting down the amount of committees, and centralizing power to Newt Gingrich. These changes also made for some major policy changes, and one of the largest was a tax cut to the wealthiest group of Americans. Based upon Aldrich’s reasons for the presence of a critical era, I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constituted a major change followed by a period of relative stability, and therefore a critical era.

Is today stable? We can look at the same checklist provided by Aldrich. I am going to suggest that we are in a period of relative stability. We have ushered in a Democratic congress, but they are not overwhelming. The attitudes of the elites have not changed, and we can see this by the continuing war in Iraq. We have not seen any institutional changes, and we have not seen any major policy changes.