The past few presidential elections have seen an increasing trend of polarization, with citizens of opposing political ideologies diverging into extremes.
In modern politics, there has been a growth in officials themselves manufacturing a divide between the people. We see it time and time again where government officials will campaign on ideals that, of course, would benefit our society, but end up falling through or being significantly watered down upon passing.
We are told that “Party A” needs this to pass, and “Party B” is the only thing standing in the way, leading parties to consistently cede ground in appeasing another’s standards. This forces the citizens into a state of insecurity with policy and builds mistrust of officials.
Take President Barack Obama’s initial plans for the Affordable Care Act. In 2003, he was quoted as saying “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program,” and also talking about the infeasibility of the U.S. being unable to afford to provide insurance to its citizens.
After his 2008 election, this seemed to disappear from the act, instead being replaced with subsidies and aid options. Republican refusal to pass universal healthcare changed the entire plan of the Democrats elect.
This split causes us to see policy reductions such as this as the fault of one party, and subsequently, the people who believe in it.
During the 2024 election cycle, Republicans campaigned by highlighting Democrats’ failure and corruption under Joe Biden, claims with little to no supportive evidence. As a result, we now see rhetoric from the President himself calling Democrats “radicals” and “lunatics,” causing the same dialogue to be spewed by his supporters.
Politics, especially within legislation, is not a competition. There should be cohesion and collaboration between our parties, otherwise no meaningful progress will be made for the betterment of citizens’ lives.
The two-party system breeds polarization between ideologies. To solve it, we must either have provisions in place to include a third party or find a way to mend relations between the primary two.
