SOCIAL NETWORKS AS A FACTOR OF IMPACT ON POLITICAL POLARIZATION IN THE US

Zinaida Taranenko Yu.

Annotation

Significant misuderstandings between political parties in the US continue to apper till nowadays. Attempting to understand the rise of political polarization or the success of populist presidential candidates, it is necessary to examine the impact of social media as news consumption continues to shift from traditional media to new digital platforms. A lot of criticism was produced in connection with the elected officials during the presidential campaign in 2016 due to the lack of desire to reach a compromise on numerous issues, including: health care reform, tax increases, immigration and cost reduction. Despite continuous disagreements, some discussions still focused on the polarization of the electorate. Along with significant party differences, it is important to take into account the factors that can be decisive in this light, given that it is political polarization that can become an obstacle to political participation and dialogue required in a representative democracy. With the help of comparative method, content analysis, method of description the author of this article analyzed the media campaigns 2000-2016 in the United States, revealed the patterns associated with the presence of political polarization.

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