If a political scientist from the 1860s and 1870s time traveled to 2014

[Matty]

What would make his jaw drop more?

1) How red the south is

2) How blue New England is.

[Joe Republic]

3) There's a negro in the White House.

[Miles]

Probably 1.

He'd probably be pretty amazed blacks in the south vote >90% Democratic.

[Meeker]

Political science didn't really exist as a field until the Progressive Era.

[King]

Probably the horseless carriages and electric power.

[pbrower2a]

1) technological change
2) demographic change
3) that women have the vote
4) that the Senate is popularly elected
5) increasing power of lobbyists and front groups

[BaconBacon96]

The Democrats get the votes of the black population.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

MDMA, HD pornography, Samsung Galaxy and Avatar in 3d.

[Likely Voter]

Once they discover internet porn...they would forget the rest

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

African-American President who's a Democrat would probably blow their minds politically.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Here's a more interesting question: if a political philosopher from the 1860s time-traveled to 2014, how would they view the present? Would they be more shocked by the devastation of the past century or our advanced technology? Would they think that we are closer to the cosmopolitanism envisioned by Kant or the collapse of capitalism predicted by Marx?

I pulled this one from my "Stupid Essay Assignments for an AP European History class" folder.

[Adam Griffin]

Other: how we've not entered another Civil War yet given the polarity

[anvi]

What's been said above about a black president and the change of African-American support to the Democratic party.  But, at least if it's a political scientist of the 1860's. I guess they'd also be surprised that presidential candidates campaign on their own behalf instead of having political surrogates do all of it for them!

[pbrower2a]

Here's a more interesting question: if a political philosopher from the 1860s time-traveled to 2014, how would they view the present? Would they be more shocked by the devastation of the past century or our advanced technology? Would they think that we are closer to the cosmopolitanism envisioned by Kant or the collapse of capitalism predicted by Marx?

I pulled this one from my "Stupid Essay Assignments for an AP European History class" folder.

The paradox is that Karl Marx did not fully discuss the end of the capitalist order until Kapital, which he wrote toward the end of his life in the 1880s.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

His brain would explode when he found out that the Party of Lincoln became the party of Confederate Revanchism and Jim Crow.

[Frodo]

3) There's a negro in the White House.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That would be the first thing to grab his attention.  Next would be the increasing societal acceptance of interracial marriages, even between blacks and whites. 

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

3) There's a negro in the White House.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That would be the first thing to grab his attention.  Next would be the increasing societal acceptance of interracial marriages, even between blacks and whites. 

The ready acceptance of non-marriage would be more troubling than interracial marriage for our hypothetical time traveler.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

All the women in politics.
That despite the short news cycles, we've been a pretty consistent 2 party system since his time.
Vermont being a haven for educated socialists.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I imagine the collapse of Britain, France, etc as Superpowers would strike him as an odd development, to say the least.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'm sure he'd be impressed by the quality and sound of our television, first and foremost .

[Meursault]

Laissez-faire being a doctrine of the Right.

[H. Ross Peron]

3) There's a negro in the White House.

[old timey villain]

Among the things you guys listed, I think they would be blown away by the country's widespread tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality and gay marriage.

The word "homosexuality" wasn't even formally printed until 1869 so I don't think people back then saw it as a sexual orientation, good or bad, just a perversion known as a "crime against nature." They would probably be shocked by the amount of openly gay people and the amount of politicians who openly support gay rights. I think it would be very tough for them to see gays as a legitimate minority that deserves any kind of political representation.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Among the things you guys listed, I think they would be blown away by the country's widespread tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality and gay marriage.

The word "homosexuality" wasn't even formally printed until 1869 so I don't think people back then saw it as a sexual orientation, good or bad, just a perversion known as a "crime against nature." They would probably be shocked by the amount of openly gay people and the amount of politicians who openly support gay rights. I think it would be very tough for them to see gays as a legitimate minority that deserves any kind of political representation.

If they were told that 5% of the population was gay, they'd wonder why the other 95% were so sad.

[Badger]

Probably the horseless carriages and electric power.