Compare And Contrast The President And Congress

The United States Congress is often described with two words: unproductive and unpopular. As Congress’s approval ratings continue to plummet it has become evident that gridlock plays a major role in voter’s feelings towards congressional productivity. Many voters are beginning to worry that Congress is more broken than ever due to the fact that it seems as if it is no longer able to make even the smallest bipartisan decisions (Binder, 2013). Congress is appearing to seem dysfunctional to the public eye in regard to Congressional responses to many issues including health care and immigration (Todd et al., 2013). Growing partisanship and inability to compromise is seemingly the cause of the ineffectiveness of Congress. Liberals and Conservatives

" This article contends that the polarization in American political parties stems from the weakness of the parties themselves. Weak party structures might lead to fragmented ideologies, lack of party discipline, and susceptibility to outside influences such as special interest groups. Consequently, without strong leadership and cohesive party platforms, members may resort to

As a consequence, polarized Congress will only fall under a gridlock that will obstruct the legislation process. However, I believe that there are ways in improving political polarization. Firstly, the journalistic coverage of public officials is in dire need of adjustments. Media should shift their focus and resources on the extreme members of Congress. This process will force those legislators to be more moderate in order to keep their positions. Lastly, people just need to vote. Even though “87 percent of registered voters voted in the 2012 presidential election, this only represents 42 percent of the total U.S population” (openstax, 249). This is an alarming number for a democratic country since all citizens are encouraged to participate under a democracy. If there are more people voting, officials are forced to appeal to a broader spectrum of

In the past, the Democratic party was known as the conservative, traditional party that fully supported state government while the Republican party was a supporter of the federal government control. The Republican party began as “Lincoln’s party” which caught the attention and support of the colored voters. In contrast, the Democratic party was predominantly white during this time with ideas to keep the rights of the state and the traditions of the South. Though these two parties have opposing views, they began to clash and redirect their beliefs. Over time the two main political parties have changed their platforms based on the issues of desegregation, racism in the South and placement of federal government.

This dilemma of serving local interest or focusing on national interest is severe and a reason why Congress is looked at so negatively. The result of this is an institution designed to be disliked. In addition, Congress is also polarized because the nation is becoming more polarized, thus making even more troublesome to pass laws that would satisfy the nation or resolve larger issues that the nation faces. This makes a gridlock and it is difficult to make any progress when this

Many Americans are aware of the polarization that exists within them and within the government. However, people do not realize the extent of the polarization and the effect that it has on government functions. Susan Page, author of “Divided We Now Stand” explains that many Americans are aware of the increasing polarization, when a political party influences the stance of a person, and that citizens believe that polarization influence politicians more than it influence them. However, Page argues that voters are to blame as well. She uses a survey to illustrate the choices that Americans make on a certain policy. The results of the survey show that Democrats and Republicans choose the stance of their political party, regardless of their own personal opinions on the actual policy (Page). Page’s point proves that politicians are not the only ones that contribute to the government’s dysfunction, and that voters might want to re-evaluate how they process their information and their choices if they wish to see a change.

Several reasons are behind the increased partisanship. The first reason is the natural demographic and attitudinal uniformity arising in districts. Certain demographics are concentrated in particular areas resulting in increased polarization of those elected to Congress. Such have translated to increased party homogeneity with leaders of each divide tending to be more extreme (Soliman 109). Another reason behind the current polarization is the controversial nature of the recent presidents.

It is present among the voters as well as our elected representatives, at all levels of government (Jacobson 2000, Aldrich and Battista 2002). We can see it through simple measures like red states and blue states and in more sophisticated ones like party unity. For instance, it may be that elites have become more extreme in recent years and the voters are forced to choose between increasingly divergent candidates. Along with these examples, the article from the Washing Post states that, “This is true in both chambers, although polarization has progressed at a greater rate in the House. Congress is now more polarized than at any time since the end of Reconstruction.”

In modern American politics it is incredibly difficult for a President to legislate due to the fact that Congress has become incredibly polarized. Obama and other Presidents in the past ran their campaigns stating that they would unite divided government in order for both parties to work together to get legislation passed. What Obama and many other Presidents have found out is that because both parties are sticking to their ideologies the prospects for compromise has lowered and the only way to legislate is to work within one’s party. While political scientist such as Matthew J. Dickson have suggested focusing on issues that will bring bipartisanship and going public, it is clear in the wake of such polarization that change is needed to combat

Nobody injuring one another and anybody being free to regulate their own seeking of industry and improvements is shall been an intelligent and frugal government.

The growing ideological gap between the United States’ two major political parties, in other words, rising levels of political polarization, has had a negative impact on American politics as it results in Congressional inefficient, public apathy, and economic inequality.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Polarization is defined as the “division into two opposites”. (Merriam-Webster) Political Polarization refers to the perceived division of ideologies espoused between the two major political parties in the United States. The topic of political polarization is one frequently referenced in the media and in political discussions. Does political polarization actually exist or is it a myth? In this paper, this question will be analyzed and examined and a conclusion will be reached.

The political climate today is increasingly becoming more turbulent as Republicans and Democrats volley for superiority in Washington. The two parties are becoming more polarized by the hour, and this is affecting the ability of the government to move forward and pass legislation and continue to improve America. The Senate is in a state of gridlock on some of the most important issues to the people of the United States to date, and yet the senators which the people elected are instead caught up in fighting the people on the other side of the aisle. They should be listening to what their constituents need and want. Today Republican senators are using filibusters, scare tactics, and even entire news networks

In recent years, congress has been incredibly adversarial to the president, providing that it is not controlled by members of his (the president) political party affiliation. The main source of this weakness is that congress and its members are defined by partisanship, they value tribalism, and are rewarded based on their loyalty to their party and antagonism to their opposition. This makes congress a breeding ground for viscous opposition where any room for compromise between parties is villainized, because of this the president can only govern efficiently when his party controls a significant percentage of both or either house. The major cause of this new political culture is highly contested, some say it is because political parties have come to gain too much power by way of their influence and ability to build campaign war chests. Others believe that political parties are too weak, citing that special interests and third party intervention has made members of either party less responsive to their leaders causing them to govern based on their fiscal supporters, which, would not allow compromise between two single groups. Regardless, it is very appropriate to cast the blame of a dysfunctional congress upon party politics. To illustrate this relationship between the executive and partisan congress we will look at the presidency of Barack Obama,

There are many theories as to how or why political polarization was formed, and the impact it has on government in modern day. Polarization has varied significantly over the years ever since the 1970’s. However, what is the true cause and can it be explained? This paper will discuss some theories on how political polarization came about, and analyzes some accounts of polarization overall. Defining political polarization is vital into developing an understanding of how or why it was initially formed.