Should we be concerned by Americans' habits regarding consumption ...

[vHAUNG6011]

Should we be concerned by Americans' habits regarding consumption of the news? Should we be troubled by the fact that more Americans do not take fuller advantage of the Internet to gather information about political issues or campaigns and
 
  elections? Why or why not?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Dorrinda and Denise are 12-year-old identical twins. Their parents do not pay much attention to politics. They rarely vote and have never been to a political rally.
 
  Given what you know about political socialization, what sort of political life do you envision for the twins?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[Zebsrer]

Answer to Question 1

An ideal response will:
1, Explain how the explosion of media sources should be good for democracy because information is what fuels democratic governance, but that this is greatly underused.
2, Discuss Americans' news-consumption habits, specifically how we tend to focus on light or entertainment-based news.
3, Note that Americans are turning away from newspapers in droves, despite the fact that newspapers offer in-depth coverage of political events while television news provides little more than headlines.
4, Explain the concern that the rise of the information society has failed to produce an informed society.
5, Make an argument about why this may be bad or good.

Answer to Question 2

An ideal response will:
1, Discuss whether or not the twins will view politics and vote similarly to one another and to their parents.
2, Identify reasons for the twins' voting similarity or dissimilarity with each other and their parents, including detailed discussion of their parents as agents of political socialization and other agents (school, genetics, the media, and friends) that explain their voting behavior.