Polarization has become a huge issue in today’s politics and the implications of an “in group” vs “out group” has led to a lot of political drama. There is an increasingly large gap between liberal and conservative citizens and as a result, party loyalty is at an all-time high. Due to this party loyalty, there is a lack of accountability when it comes to candidates and their respective parties. The overarching issue is that citizens are willing to give up parts of democracy to support their political party, in other words, party loyalty is trumping democratic principles as seen in the 2020 election in which the Republican party supported Donald Trump in making it harder to vote.
The Yale Department of Political Science conducted a research study in which they created fake candidates with different attributes and policy goals. These candidates were then given undemocratic policies such as gerrymandering and ignoring unfavorable court decisions. As a result of the experiment, the study found that 96.5% of the participants still voted for their preferred party candidate ignoring the undemocratic ideals. This indicates that a large proportion of U.S citizens will choose to vote for their parties even if it comes at the cost of sacrificing democracy.
The first issue that is prominent is the increasing culture of partisanship in the United States. Because people build a lifestyle and social circle around a political party rather than the values and ideals they represent, the process of identity politics becomes invalid because of the misrepresentations of party followers. Studies show that when citizens are given the option to be informed on views opposing their party they tend to opt out, meaning they don’t allow for comparing and contrasting views that they may or may not agree with. The hold political party culture has on the behaviors and unconscious actions of citizens is negative towards democracy and can further encourage democratic backsliding. This can especially be seen now as party conventions have become social gatherings and meet-and-greets, rather than discussions of important policies as the focus of the event. It was also stated in this study that moderate leaning citizens were most immune to effects of party polarization.
A great example of one of the adverse effects of identity politics and party loyalty in the United States happened recently on January 6, 2021. Citizens were convinced that the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, should continue to be in office so in response to the results of the elections, Trump followers stormed the Capitol to protest. The idea of a peaceful transition of power is a key democratic indicator and a core virtue the founding fathers wanted to establish while writing the constitution. A lot of the times, Party politics leads to a rejection of democratic norms and rules as well as a denial of the legitimacy of political opposition.
Polarization has also caused further tensions in politics because neither side wants to support the other one in their goals. As a result there is no compromise, commonly known as political gridlock. This further enhances the point of party members caring more about their party than they do their actual roles in government. The most recent example of gridlock was the government shutdown that occurred because of the border funding issue in 2018, the longest shutdown in U.S. government’s history. Polarization has become a well-known and acknowledged issue both in the government and amongst the citizens, and it continues to make the role of the U.S. government less legitimate.
The current events and political issues occurring in the United States are not new or unexpected. Democracies across the world face similar hardships and troubles, experiencing the negative effect of democratic backsliding due to polarization. An additional example of polarization around the world is Turkey. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: almost eight out of ten people in Turkey would not want their daughter to marry someone who votes for the party they most dislike. Nearly three-quarters would not even want to do business with such a person.
Another example is the 2016 Brexit situation in the UK and how quickly it was able to divide a population. Judgment based on political identity fuels the divide between political parties and rather than helping create a better government, it encourages the slander and bashing of opposing parties.
Although there are many ways citizens can help solve this issue, it is not as easy as it seems because it mainly depends on the group of people and their individual needs. A more effective and participatory voting system that favors central candidates and deters negative campaigning is a strategy Maine is considering to use. They implemented the use of rank choice voting which helps promote a more balanced voting system that is fair to all candidates by giving them a better chance in the electoral process.
In conclusion, polarization in the political realm is a growing issue around the world and it is becoming a more serious concern in the United States. This along with the growing party loyalty leading to what many people believe to be democratic backsliding. The flaws in the system can be repaired and healed but that will require the government and citizens to compromise certain things for the betterment of the future of democracy across not only the United States but the entire world.
Polarization and Politics: What’s Next for America
Written by: Alexandra MorkAli Shaikh
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The strict party partisanship in the United States has caused a lot of concern especially concerning the state of democracy. I appreciated that this article brought up issues related to how extreme party allegiance can lead to events like those on January 6th. I am curious to see how ranked-choice voting in the United States alters partisanship. It is also interesting how ranked-choice voting is considered a fairly partisan issue as well.
When your main indentity becomes your political party it causes individuals to do questionable things in the name of patriarchy. I believe that it would be difficult for this era to change unless major heads on the political spectrum become honest with themselves about situations within the country and work for the citizens instead not their constituents. It will also be helpful to if these political figures try their best to not belittle the other side and focus on the topics at hand. I shouldn’t be able to assume how a person would react to things if I know what their political part is but unfortunately that is exactly what I can do.
In terms of the insurrection that happened on January 9th, there should be more consequences to the individuals that vandalized the capitol, not because of their political party but because they did something wrong.
It is extremely evident that polarization is extremely heightened in the US right now and in other parts of the world. Polarization plays a huge role in the government, especially in democracies. If the people of a country are extremely divided over certain issues or even over party politics, that affects who gets elected, how the country gets run, and what decisions are made. Simply put, this polarization stems from people wanting their opinions and ideas of how issues should be solved to be in accordance with the leaders of the country. When these feelings turn to feelings of superiority over others’ opinions and that continues to grow is where we see polarization blossom. I think the examples you used were very telling of the polarization we see in the US and in other parts of the world. But what is next for America? How do you combat polarization? How does the US move forward from the polarization? This becomes a loaded question the more you contemplate the possibilities because how does one reduce the hatred people feel for those who are not in their political party? It mostly seems like a waiting game, that this polarization builds and builds until a decision is finally made on the matter. But, when you are in the thick of it, as we are now, is there any way to discourage this anger and scorn between the parties so that compromise wouldn’t look as bleak. In what ways could we encourage people to put democracy over Republicans or Democrats; education? I think that this topic will be at the forefront of discussion for the foreseeable future, and it is our job to continue to ask these questions and to mitigate polarization as much as we possibly can.
Your post presents a clear and understandable breakdown of polarization’s effects on the U.S. political lifestyle of voters and how it’s slowly becoming a controlling aspect in our daily lives, Ali. However, I am slightly surprised that you didn’t get to mention the potential existence of ‘extremists’ before the change. In other words, when you mention people building a lifestyle and social circle around a political party rather than the values and ideals they represent, you do not take into account the existence of extremists within our society that didn’t need such pushes to exist in the first place, nor of their impact on those who do change their lifestyles in order to conform into their parties better. Your commentary on the lack of compromise between the parties due to polarization was interesting as well, and the mentioning of the government shutdown of 2018 was an excellent example to use, as well as the idea of any government shutdown being caused by a series of divided bills left undecided in order to cause such a ‘Make or Break’ situation for those in denial. Such strategies seem to be an irresponsible use of political power, but here is where decades of unchecked polarization has led us. I would like to know your input on what exactly Americans and their parties should be willing to sacrifice in order to help repair this democratic backsliding and encourage compromise rather than division and drawing lines in the sand.
Working in state politics, I have witnessed first-hand just how deep polarization is in our country and how much of a plague it is on the democratic institution. Your analysis does a really good job of showing that. When political discourse become less about discussing and more about demeaning the other side, there is a real problem. Something I have always admired about democracy is that is thrives on the existence of other ideas and opinions. Polarization takes away the respect and space for people of different ideologies to come together and talk. Regardless of government institution, being able to discuss with people who hold different beliefs and views from your own is really beneficial. In a democracy, this is especially so. We can learn greatly from talking to others and could possibly find great solutions by using ideas from both sides. It is really sad to see how party identity has taken on such an exclusive form. America is a great experiment. Our government was founded on compromise. The fact we can no longer meet each other halfway and take special care to demoralize the other side is scary. Hopefully one day family gatherings won’t be cut short by the crusades on differing opinions. Hopefully one day the chambers of Capitol Hill won’t be in gridlock because of petty partisan differences. It is imperative that Americans, whether in elected office or just the average member of the electoral, find it in their hearts to have civil discussions with those who disagree with them and to respect their differences. The state of our democracy depends on it. If we can break free from the grip polarization has on our political landscape, I don’t know if America can ever get back to being a place of great compromise. If we can see past our differences, we might find our country to go on a better path.
Ali, I found your post to skillfully explain the polarization we are facing in the US and how detrimental that is to our democracy. I wanted to note what Shane commented, and I agree that there is a lack of discussion of extremists. The changing of lifestyles to conform to their political parties is a dangerous aspect of polarization. There are people whose entire lives are built around a political party, and that becomes the entire embodiment of their beliefs and actions. This level of extreme “patriotism” endangers the foundation of political p;arties and democracy — it completely changes the idea of aligning with a political party, and instead is a perverted view for people to hide their illegal or dangerous actions by. How can we tackle this extremism? Is there any evidence that polarization can decrease in the next few years? I think Americans need to abandon the idea of party loyalty and not just vote for the candidate that aligns with their party, but that aligns with the individual’s own goals and ideas. The Yale experiment is sad but unsurprising. We should not be sacrificing democracy for the sake of political parties, because this will just erode our democracy until America reaches a point where it’s run by extreme party loyalists, and not towards bettering the country. Is there a way we can avoid political gridlock without ensuing a political party war? There is no compromise right now, and this polarization has heightened since Trump’s election in 2016. His administration was a catalyst in furthering polarization to the point we are at now. While your suggestion of ranked choice voting is good on paper, I’m not sure how effective it would be in a Presidential election because I don’t see a current incentive for voters to rank the choices outside of their political party alignment. I agree with Keffrey that major political heads need to be honest with the situation in the country and address this. I think party loyalists would be more likely to address the issue if they hear it from their party leader, and not the opposing party for example. Also, both parties need to agree on this situation going forward, as the effort to end polarization cannot be one-sided. I’m curious to see what this will look like in the future, or if we will have to suffer with the consequences of polarization for many more years to come, and painfully watch as our country’s democracy fails before our eyes.