Compare & contrast ethnocentrism & cross-cutting cleavages. How have these two concepts contributed to our political perspectives?

Ethnocentrism can (but does not have to) negate the
possibility of cross cutting cleavages.  You can argue that our party politics would
look different if we had more cross cutting cleavages and less ethnocentrism in the
US.

When a group feels strong ethnocentrism, its ethnicity
becomes its most relevant characteristic.  In such cases, it will not be affected by
cleavages that are based on things like economics or
religion.

You can argue that the Republican Party has
become the party of ethnocentric whites, unable to reach out to blacks and Latinos on
cultural issues, especially.  You can argue that the Democratic Party has become based
on minority groups and has a hard time reaching out to
whites.

Outside of partisan politics, you can see that many
of our economic issues have come to be seen as racial issues and so have issues of
crime.