Power is concentrated among a minority of citizens – and it may not change

A new study on political ideologies in America confirms what we easily can learn by viewing cable television on any evening: We live in an era of deeply divided viewpoints.

“Partisan polarization – the vast and growing gap between Republicans and Democrats – is a defining feature of politics today,” the Pew Research Center wrote in the study.

While that observation is hardly a new revelation, there are other elements of the report that document some interesting, and alarming, facts about the nature of democracy in America in 2014.

For example, we already know that individuals who lean heavily to the left or to the right dominate political discourse on the airwaves and the Internet. But the study also very clearly shows how those on the far ends of the political spectrum wield a disproportionately large influence on politics, government and democracy.

In Search of the Most Trusted Person in America

After Walter Cronkite passed away last week, I started wondering who would succeed the former CBS Evening News anchor as the most trusted man in America – a label that evolved from a 1980 magazine poll and stuck with him until his death.

In today’s environment, it is hard to imagine that any journalist would be regarded as the most trusted person in America.