Followership In America Essay

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.

Within the past few years, the United States has become increasingly divided. Not only is this divide becoming more and more prevalent, but both legislators and civilians are also becoming more intractable. Many leaders in the Congress, in the Senate, and even in the White House are unwilling to work with leaders of different political parties simply because they do not want to seem as if they are faltering in their beliefs of their party’s ideals. Legislators choose to represent the interests of those who funded their campaign instead of lobbying for the best interest of their constituents. When lawmakers represent billionaires instead of average people, they become out of touch and the government becomes less “for the people by the people” and more “for the one percent by the one percent.”

Amidst the past eight years of lackluster economic advancement, America’s prowess and respect declining worldwide, increasing government involvement in daily lives, and a President seemingly unwilling to take a solid stance on a the global threat of terrorism, the transfer of power between political parties in the White House is not so stunning. Due to the two-party system, this is not an unprecedented phenomenon. The American people are constantly seeking a political party to garner their attention and adapt to changing times, opinions, demographics, and attitudes (Cohen) and this results in the alternation of power between the two key political parties.

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.

The politics of the United States is one of the most advanced in the whole world. But even at this stage, the politics is dominated by pettiness that stems from partisanship. This has ensured that no issues is ever passed amicably through the national legislative housed. Every debate is viewed through the lenses of partisanship.

Voter turnouts in the U.S. are spectacularly low compared to most other democracies. Turnout has not reached over 70% in the last century while other developing nations and quite a few third world nations have registered higher turnouts. During the 2016 presidential election, only about 55.7% of the population cast their votes according to newly released Census Bureau figures. The U.S. trails far below compared to the other developed nations hovering over 80% which were, Belgium (87.2%), Sweden (82.6%) and Denmark (80.3%). How could this be? Is the U.S. political system built in a way where many people believe that their votes don’t matter or should compulsory voting be enforced? There are many factors that go into the results of voter turnouts in the U.S.

Republicans and Democrats have clearly divided themselves among the issues of; political beliefs, religion, race. This in turn creates 2 separate teams that constantly battle each other to advance their cause at the expense of the other. And due to the constant battles we see today, it has created a political environment filled with hostility and one way thinking. (Alan I. Abramowitz and Stephen Webster, 2016) state in their article “The rise of negative partisanship and the nationalization of U.S. elections in the 21st century””supporters of each party have come to perceive supporters of the opposing party as very different from themselves in terms of their social characteristics, political beliefs and values and to view opposing partisans with growing suspicion and hostility. (Mason, 2015)” As an illustration this statement is backed up by one of the questions that was asked during the interviews that I conducted. The question read “would you consider listening to someone from the opposing camp try to persuade you to vote for their candidate?” Nine out of ten gave me a variation of how they would not listen to the other side's point of view on their candidate. One memorable quote from an interview read this “Hell no! Any democrat should be ashamed of themselves for voting for a criminal like Hillary Clinton. And because of her Democrats in my opinion have lost all

Today, there exists the rift in the American political system marked by the ongoing clash between our political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. These parties’ dissenting ideas seem to create non-stop conflict as each party relentlessly competes for the support and votes of the American people. However, over two hundred years ago in the early days of our country’s government, political parties did not even exist. Early leaders, such as the revered George Washington, feared that political parties would split our country into warring factions that would not only subvert our delicate notion of patriotism, but also weaken public support for the new Constitution. Nonetheless, despite opposition by Washington and others, political parties began to form, and over the years have developed into the familiar political system we have today. The chief factors that led to the rise of political parties were the disagreements between influential politicians over the structure of the government, the proper interpretation of the Constitution, and foreign policy regarding European nations.

With America now in its very earliest days of being a new nation, any and all actions taken by the government would have lasting impacts on the development of the country and, going forward, would set a precedent for the future. After the Revolution and signing of the Declaration of Independence, America was no longer a sparse group of colonies aggregated along the Eastern coast. America was the start of something entirely new and profound to the modern world: democracy. Because of its hot and fiery origins, the founding fathers of America and intellectuals of the age — whether war veterans or legislators — were very much divided on the vision of America’s future. Thus, the roots of political parties were set in the course of American history forever. From the period 1789 to 1800, political parties developed from an insurmountable difference in opinion in leading a nation. These stark differences and

Voter turnout has not been above sixty percent since 1968 and has not been above seventy percent since 1900. These numbers are significantly lower during midterm elections, which dip into the thirty percent range. Voter turnout is drastically lower than many other countries, placing the United States near the bottom when compared to other democracies. There are many factors that have contributed to the decline in voter participation (Patterson 170) (“Voter Turnout Data”) (“Voter Turnout in Presidential

The turnout in American elections is low because a lot of Americans have huge barriers and obstacles that prevent them from voting. The United States, unlike almost every other democracy, has no national list of eligible voters. The voter rolls are maintained by counties and towns and their partisan elected officials. Since 2000, (a time of very close national elections) state legislatures have considered a wide variety of ways to limit the expansion of voting rights. (Hershey, 2015, p. 156)

It would be a falsity to claim that the United States was ruled primarily through the independent minds of its people. Rather, we can see the absolute appropriation of authority split between two parties; those ruled by the tiresome elephants or those who follow the jackasses. This system of division has been heavily disfavored by our Founding Fathers, especially by John Adams who had stated in his letter to Jonathan Jackson that, “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties…” (Adams, John). The evidence for this issue in todays culture is everywhere; from legislative wars between the executive and legislative branches, strong discourse among the people, and of course those campaigning against one another based on how they interpret marriage. This undeniable rise of partisan antipathy can be seen in Carroll Doherty’s article 7 things to know about polarization in America where recent PEW studies showcase that strong resentment within the Democratic and Republican parties towards each other has just about doubled within the last two decades alone (Doherty, Carroll). A situation that has caused much strife as it slows down the march of progress and implementation of proper legislation due to the lack of compromise this particular way of thinking promotes. Uprooting this tired system will require a solid understanding of its early development, an examination of its advantages and disadvantages in modern politics, and the

Obstacles to voting and the absent voting of pure independents are the reason of low turnout in the U.S. today, which may also have great influence both politically and legally. The voter turnout is the percentage of qualified voters who actually go to an election to cast a ballot. Overall, the voter turnout in America is low, with only between 51 and 57 percent of eligible voters going to polls in presidential elections from 2004 to 2012. The reason why America has such a low turnout is because of several obstacles in voting. The U.S. do not provide paid holiday for voters who are workers to vote or well-structured politics for different racial voters, other obstacles like advanced registration and absentee voting also make the voting more difficult for voters. The pure independents, who are unlike independent leaners or behaviour independents, are less well informed and less care about the election information and also definitely less likely to vote on the Election Day, they do not have any preference for any candidates or parties. As Hershey mentioned in his book,

Everyone has views on the way things should be carried out. However, people’s views usually do not agree with one another. Whether it is the way someone was brought up, or certain life experiences, no person has the same exact views as someone else. This often leads to disagreement and consequently conflict between people. This type of conflict is not exclusively seen on a personal scale, and is seen on one of the largest scales in the world: The United States’ political system. People’s views on issues influence the way American politics is done and often causes conflict in the process. But being a necessary byproduct of democracy, there is no way to prevent this conflict as it is inevitable. Conflict may seem like a dirty and unapproachable

The leader and follower relationship is looked at as winners and losers, when it is actually a symbiotic association. (Chaleff) Leaders cannot exist without followers and followers cannot exist without a leader. Leaders can forget that they need the backing of a solid team of followers in order to succeed. Because they make the “important” decisions and enjoy an astronomical rate of pay, it is easy to overlook the loyal, hard working individuals that make everything happen under them. Followers too can forget that they are a valuable element of a successful organization, and that their feedback and ideas are welcome.