Congressional Polarization

After two years of presidency, George Washington refused a third term in 1796 and resigned from office, eager to return to his home in Virginia and farm. He did not leave office without offering advice to his successors; rather, he delivered his consultation in the form of his Farewell Address to the nation. The document was published in newspapers across the United States to be read by Americans nationwide, and it is still read in Congress annually. In his Farewell Address, George Washington encourages Americans to follow many core principles after his presidency, many of which are not in practice by Americans today.

In a second evaluation of the Canadian parliamentary, a direct comparison can be made with the presidential system in America. At moderate levels of partisanship, the functionality of both systems of government appear to be the same. This was evident in the decades preceding Obama’s rule where legislation was often able to be passed with compromise reached among both of the parties. As partisanship increases, the parliamentary government continues to function with the same efficiency – because of their structures, parliamentary systems are relatively gridlock-proof. The America system on the other hand, does not continue to mirror the parliamentary pattern. Rather, extreme partisanship

Congressional Gridlock is a recurring issue in America’s political system, and it is crippling the efficacy of the governments ability to lead the country to overall prosperity. Gridlock, in terms of politics, refers to the inability for the political system to adequately satisfy the needs of the citizens in that country. In reference to Congress, a gridlock is when the people cannot be satisfied due to disagreements in legislation that hinder the process of making laws. One recent consequence of congressional gridlock is the congressional stand still concerning gun violence in our nation and the oppositions on what affect, if any, it has on gun laws. Another example of a congressional gridlock is the lengthy wait for

Partisans on both sides of politics are often so angry with each other that they barely communicate, making it difficult to work together to find solutions for America’s issues. Extreme partisans sometimes refuse to work with members of an opposing party. Each party believes the other is treasonous, and is purposely harming the nation. The same Pew Research Center study found that opposite sides do not just believe they have better ideas, but honestly think the other party is more interested in partisan gains than the well-being of the nation. The study also found that over that last thirty years the nation has become more partisan, and Congress has become less effective. Parties have also become more extreme, basing political agendas on demonizing the opponent and skewing discussions of issues facing the nation (Coblenz,

Finally, it will be argued that the modern political party system in the United States is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since 1856. The Democratic Party generally positions itself as centre-left in American politics and supports a modern American liberal platform, while the Republican Party generally positions itself as centre-right and supports a modern American conservative platform. (Nichols, 1967)

Political Parties serve a crucial role in congressional campaigns, especially for candidate recruitment. One significant role political parties serve is the state law of redistricting, “Because the composition of House districts can make the difference between winning and losing, the two major parties and individual politicians, particularly incumbents, often fight fierce battles in state legislatures over the alignment of districts.” (Smith, et al., 2007).

Party polarization is the division between the two major parties on most policy issues, with members of each party is unified around their party’s position with little crossover. The competing explanations for polarization are how congressional representatives are elected, lawmakers selecting a candidate for office and as congressional districts and states have become more homogeneous. Every 10 years, congressional district geographic boundaries are redrawn so that each district has roughly the same population. These districts are increasingly drawn to be safe for one political party or another so that the district has a clear majority of either republicans or Democrats. This process is known as gerrymandering. Most lawmakers are elected from

Although political parties may cause contention between Americans, parties are critical to the success of our constitutional system because parties provide party labels and mobilizes the voters by increased the participation of the common people.

America was molded by a group of individuals who felt that their voice was being drowned out by a tyrannical monarchy. After the revolution, this was resolved by creating a system that attempted to allow all people to have a say in the country’s government. The Electoral College was established as a representative way for the citizens of America to elect a leader; however, many are not satisfied with the results. A growing number of Americans would rather have a direct popular vote than the Electoral College. This disparity comes from believing that the current system is not democratic and prevents each vote from being viewed equally. The Electoral College needs to be changed because it misrepresents the opinions of the people, dismisses

However, Burnham’s definition appears to be the one that fit the case studies above. Although the two examples in 1896 and 1932 were quite similar in the components that have led to critical elections and realignment, not every single factor (high voter intensity, emergence of third parties, ideological polarization, the population shifting its partisan loyalties, and the strain on the nation’s socioeconomic system) existed within each case. Yet, both exhibited a shift within partisan loyalties and both were also experiencing a stress on the socioeconomic system that transpired realignment in which both gained a new voting coalition. Interestingly, I believe that these factors work in tandem when it comes to prompting critical elections that will eventually lead to realignment. Once the difficulties and the strain of the socioeconomic system reach the voters, they become cynical of the current situation. They turn to a radical approach to incite change. What’s more radical than completely switching to a party that you previously saw as an antithesis to your ideology? It is human nature to look to change something that has not been working. Therefore, once the voters discern that the current status quo is unproductive, they seek another path to follow to tackle these inefficiencies. Since our nation prides itself on the two-party system, voters really do not have the choice but to turn to

Amidst the chaos of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, emerges a cacophony of voices screaming for Electoral College reform. Many are angered by the results, others are confused: how can one candidate receive nearly three million more votes than the other and still lose the election? The Electoral College has been the United States’ method for electing a president since the Constitution was ratified, and this is far from the first time that it has been criticized. Proponents of the system accuse current skepticisms of being partisan, and the skeptics of being “sore losers”. However, defenders of the Electoral College, such as Guelzo and

These districts usually result in partisanship representatives usually determined by the demographic characteristics of the district under consideration (Hirano et al, 2010). Hence, such representatives will largely hold on to their constituents viewpoints and this limits the possibility of bipartisanship efforts that can be used to break congressional gridlocks. The rise of anti-government sentiments has built distrust among the people who look for solutions from other areas. As such, legislations such as the Affordable Care Act among others become a tough sell on the ground and this takes the form of partisanship stand in the Congress and Senate (Teter, 2013). The ensuing gridlock becomes difficult to break resulting in

Direct Reflection with Instant Runoff Voting could be used with or without the Electoral College in effect. This system will allow, each voter to not only elect a candidate but to select their preferences. This would end the spoiler dynamic of third party and independent candidates and consistently produce a majority nationwide winner. By eliminating the candidate with the lowest number of votes and picking the candidate with the highest votes will be a new system introduced in modern

In his Farewell Address, George Washington warned Americans about the effects of political polarization, saying,“One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts.” Polarization is the division into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs. The political gap between Democrats and Republicans has been a growing problem but has seemed to get increasingly worse in recent years. Although the two-party system can help create balance within

Political parties serve countless roles in America’s government. Foremost, it needs to be said they are crucial to America’s political system. The political parties are the heart and brain of our government's body, urging people to conceive and feel different ways on different topics whether the controversy is over how money is distributed or the way immigrants should be treated or dealt with. With each party having a biased view it shows how a group can be increasingly powerful with bountiful amounts of support, names and divisions can be heard. Democrats are widely known to be liberal rather than conservative. When it comes to the Republicans, they are known to be conservative. Political parties fuel the fire of our nation's citizen’s political views.