The Social Scene

Nowadays, everything is social. We gather with people to eat meals, watch sporting events, go shopping, we even go to the restroom in groups (yes, us girls do that, I don’t know why). Almost all the activities in our lives are social, especially now, with social media. Even when we aren’t in person with people, we are connected to them via Facebook, Snapchat, or anyone other of the countless social media platforms. Just as our everyday lives are social, so are politics. The social scene has a large influence when it comes to who we’re going to support politically. In Partisan Hearts and Minds, the authors argue that “stereotypes concerning social groups are not only powerful, they are also pervasive” (9). People’s political decisions stem from their social allegiance more than anything. Going off this, in Social Cleavages and Political Alignments, the point is made that “political divisions in democratic polities lies with membership in social groups” (937). These both connect to Andrew J. Perrin’s thought that fundamentally, democracy is social. Clearly, social groups are at the core of all three of these pieces. So whether we are going out to eat or headed to the polls, we will most likely be surrounded by our social group who influences our decisions.