Parsing some numbers showing that Americans are paying more attention to the news these days than at any point in the past decade, Matt Yglesias points out the paradox of the ideal of greater civic engagement:
It’s probably worth emphasizing that a lot of the things that bien pensant types deplore—like this past summer of crazy rallies and political polarization more generally—are inextricably tied up with things that bien pensant types claim to want, namely an increased level of civic engagement. The politics of the late-19th century was incredibly vicious, polarized, and un-edifying. It was also an era of high turnout and booming newspapers.
Read more at Yglesias.