The Divide in America - How politics shape a nation
The 2020 presidential election in the United States of America kept everybody across the globe glued to their screens, continually refreshing one of the live election trackers. However, aside from the geopolitical implications of the result of this election, there was also another factor that contributed to why we felt like we could not stopping looking at the vote count - the closeness of the votes on each side. Until almost the very end of the counting, nobody was certain of who was going to win this election, the final votes tally amounting to 51.3% for Joe R. Biden and 46.8% for Donald J. Trump. Given these results, a very important arises: how could America’s votes be almost evenly split between two such different candidates?
Republicans v. Democrats - The never-ending question
Even though the divide between the Republicans and Democrats may seem irreconcilable today, from a historical point of view, their policies used to be quite similar when they first emerged however, as time passed, they underwent many changes which shaped their policies today.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, the two parties used to be unified, under the Democratic-Republicans party, which greatly outshined the opposition party, the Federalists. However, this led to the Democratic-Republicans having no less than four candidates campaigning against each other in the presidential race of 1824, which, after the election of John Quincy Adams, in spite of Andrew Jackson winning the popular vote, led to certain divergences across the party. These eventually led to the party splitting in two - the Whig and the Democratic parties, the latter being led by Andrew Jackson. The Whig party favoured a strong federal government and supported the existence of the National Bank, whereas the Democratic party stood in distinct opposition on these issues.
However, the two parties were prone to change yet again during the 19th century, as the issue of slavery became a more important point of policy. The Democrats were largely split on the issue, which led to the Northern Democrats, together with the Whig party and other politicians forming a new party in 1854 - the Republicans, which argued for the abolishment of slavery. The party soon came to govern and, with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president of the United States, they succeeded in bolstering the federal government, modernizing the U.S. economy, and, naturally, abolishing slavery, all while leading the country through the American Civil War.
Following the Civil War, the Republican party became more invested in economic growth, industry and businesses in the North, reaching thus the status of an elitist party, for the upper class of society. This, coupled with the stock market crashing in 1929 and leading to the Great Depression, pointed the people of America to shift towards a democratic stance, electing the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt as president in 1932. Contrasting with the more traditional views held by the Democratic party at the time, FDR adopted a series of progressive reforms across the country, the most notable being the New Deal which ensured social security, minimum wage and improved infrastructure. Such liberal measures paved the way for modern Democratic policies and won over a large number of African American voters, however, they also meant that the more conservative Southern supporters switched sides to the Republican party2. The Democrats retained power until 1980, when the Republican Ronald Reagan was elected president; his conservative politics, focused around cutting taxes, preserving family values, and increasing military funding, defined the way Republican politics look today.
The ideological split
Nowadays, Democrats and Republicans are widely different in their policies. On the economic plane, while Democrats argue for the expansion of government-provided health care and an increase in minimum wage, Republicans focus on lowering taxes on wealth and limiting government regulation of the economy. Moreover, if we are to take a look at social policies as well, they are still quite contrasting, as the latter believes in harsher immigration restrictions and limiting access to abortions, whereas the former insists on implementing more pathways to citizenship for immigrants and the expansion of LGBTQ+ rights.
As the Democratic and Republican policies further drifted apart, so did the people of the United States split between the two parties. While consistently conservative or liberal views were at about 10% in the ‘90s, they have over doubled, reaching now 21%. Today 92% of Republicans are to the right of the median Democrat, and 94% of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican.
Moreover, the largest problem that may present is not merely the fact that Americans are so politically polarized, but that this split has caused polarization among other more mundane issues as well; Democrats and Republicans oftentimes argue over where they should live, what kind of people they wish to have in their lives and how to raise their children. Many Republicans and Democrats also refuse to have friends with different political views as well, which has proven to be quiet a vicious circle – if you only surround yourself with people with whom you share the exact political views, then how will you ever come into contact with opposition’s views and be influenced to take a more moderate stance?
The ideological split that has been produced has not resulted solely from the fact that democratic and republican groups are becoming more homogeneous, but also largely due to how the policies of each party are shaped. Democrats and Republicans alike target different demographics, liberal views appealing to those living in more urban areas, whereas conservative views tend to be more largely accepted in the rural parts of the US. It’s no wonder why districts and states, respectively, tend to generally keep being democratic or republican, the results of elections becoming almost predictable in many states across the country.
Moreover, social media has also started to influence the spread of this phenomenon. Intelligent algorithms, perfectly suited for each individual using such platforms, will only showcase pieces of information it knows that the user most interacts with. Hence, even though a wide range of views can technically exist on social media, we are prone to only seeing the tip of the iceberg, the one with which we fully agree. This leaves little space for growth or opportunities to enter in contact with divergent opinions from your own, leading, once again, to political polarization.
Why there’s a problem and how it could be mitigated
At this point in the article, many of you might wonder: “Why is political polarization such a problem though?” Firstly, it is important to note that political polarization is always a cause for concern, as being strongly opinionated about what reforms you wish politicians will bring to your country is a perfectly respectable attitude. However, the concern comes once people start rejecting the idea of compromise and, even worse, debating at all upon different solutions to a particular issue. This can lead not only to disagreements in Congress, hence vital laws being passed with much more difficulty than ever before, but can also affect normal people’s lives, as they start to reject friends and family members with whom they do not agree on politics.
There is no easy solution to this problem, as there’s no magical way to undo decades of events that have led up to this political polarization. However, what America and Americans can certainly do is become more open to discussions and to compromise, as only through civilized talks and debates, where both sides can expose their arguments fairly and completely, can we ever reach the best solutions.
Bibliography
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-elections/president-results
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/
The Social Dilemma. Directed by Jeff Orlowski. 2020 Sundance Film Festival: Exposure Labs, 2020
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