Why Americans Hate Politics And Politicians

Politicians throughout history have a deplorable reputation. When people hear the word politician, they think of the words corrupt, dishonest, selfish. These thoughts are only exacerbated by recent political scandals that occurred in modern history. Two examples of these scandals are seen in Ben Paynter’s article, “Ripple Effect”, featured in the June 2016 edition of Wired. In this article, Ben Paynter showed the political failures during the Washington D.C. water crisis and the 2015 Flint Water Crisis, and how they affected the public’s opinion on politicians and the government.

In the past century, people continued to express an increasingly discontent view of Congress especially true when one looks back before the Clinton Impeachment debacle As the size of the nation and the number of congressman have grown, the congress has come under attack by both public influences and congressman themselves. Yet looking at one congressman's relationship with his or her constituents, it would be hard to believe that this is the branch of government that has come under suspect. In "If Ralph Nader says congress is 'The broken branch,' how come we love our congressman so much?" author Richard F. Fenno, Jr., provides insight into this view and why, through congress coming under fire, constituents still feel positively about

Americans have always had a love-hate relationship with Congress. It usually depends on whether or not we believe issues that are important to us (religion, abortion, immigration, jobs etc.) are being brought to the fore front and our elected officials are representing our best interest in these issues. We love them when we get our way and complain when we don’t. Interestingly the 13% approval rating that they have presently may be a little low to what it was in the past, but the past ratings do not suggests that Congress was ever popular. Nicholas Longworth once said, “We were unpopular when Lincoln was a congressman. We were unpopular when John Quincy Adams was a Congressman. We were unpopular even when Henry Clay was a Congressman. We

Popular culture also plays a role in why Americans do not trust politicians. Late-night television shows use politicians in their comedy skits, where their mistakes are punch lines for

The unexpected occurrences of the late 1960 's through the 1970’s led to a broad form of skepticism and distrust toward the countries ' leaders in a number of ways. The occurrences that impacted how Americans looked at the nation’s leader was complete disillusionment. They felt this way because of hidden secrets, corrupt scandals in the white house, continuous social and economic problems that seemed to never change and the ongoing Vietnam war which Americans were opposed too. Most Americans blamed the government for many of the issues the that were going on and that should have ended but instead funded, ignored, and made other things important on their agenda. Political leaders had proclaimed intentions on ending the cold war, racial discrimination, fixing social and economic problems and creating reforms that would begin to make a difference.Americans did not see a change of these significant issues through these years.They only saw the nation getting worse which made them unhappy, doubtful and even worried about a new civil war. Some of the events that contributed to Americans cynicism was the watergate scandal, the ongoing Vietnam war, social and economic catastrophes and inequality.

As a young child, politics has always been a complicated idea that I could never wrap my mind around. Even knowing nothing whatsoever over politics and the government, I could still see that there was something truly wrong with politics, and as I grew older, I began to understand politics as it itself is in a state of dysfunction. The question at hand here is how and why this dysfunction is occurring in our politics today. For many experts, they have found that it can all be centered on one main topic. Even though many experts have various viewpoints when it comes to politics, many can agree that it is partisanship that is causing dysfunction in politics, however there are also those who believe otherwise.

Dysfunction can be found within the U.S. government. For the purpose of this paper I will argue that the dysfunction is largely rooted and caused by U.S. culture and also caused by the political system. Furthermore, I will conclude that through the culmination of a dysfunctional culture the dysfunctions found within the political system has resulted in a dysfunctional government.

“One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don’t go into government,” Said by Donald Trump, the current President of the United States. Good people do not go into government, but when they do and they begin to do things that are best for the country they are hated, ostracized, shamed, and criticized. This book makes me feel like there is something seriously wrong with the way our Senate and House of Representatives are run and how the politicians make decisions for the people. Three examples of this are John Quincy Adams, Edmund G. Ross, and George W. Norris. Each was ostracized by the senate or people in a different way for what nowadays they are praised for.

Although the American political culture contains numerous core ideals and values as all American share different views, the vast majority of people support general ideas including equality, liberty, and order. America guarantees each individual political equality, allowing each individual to have their own personal beliefs within the political sphere. However, the environment, combined with the media, has a powerful influence on the views Americans chose to hold. Different generations live through different experiences which significantly shapes the thinking of individuals. Therefore, political beliefs and ideologies form due to the resolutions regarding different conflicts. Even though there seems to be many opposing viewpoints, the American

Everyday, our daily lives are affected by what happens with our government. Anger has been directed to the United States government because the american citizens believe our government is not doing a good enough job. This years presidential election did not help. Between the candidates alone, there has tons of controversy. From Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, to some of Donald Trump’s tweets, it is fair to say that the 2016 presidential election has been a crazy one. While the crucible explores anger of human nature, the issue of the recent presidential election illustrates we are still faced with this anger through democrats problems, republicans problems, and people angry in general about America’s election and government.

The 1970’s in the U.S. was a period in which we saw a sever lack of confidence amongst our government, and it’s leaders. During this decade we were involved in a war, caught off guard by a Presidential, and political scandals, and was trounced by a severe economic recession. These events have left a lasting impression on citizens as the level of faith in our government continues to plummet. In the writings below I will explain the conditions in our country at the time, and how these conditions led people to a path of feeling embittered.

The authors themselves are credible for this topic. McCarty is a professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Poole is A Professor of Political Science at the University of California. Rosenthal is a Professor of Politics at

Throughout the years there have been many political scandals in the U.S. These include affairs, not paying taxes, utilizing state resources for personal gain, invading privacy and many others. These scandals cause people to lose trust in their representatives and their country in general. For instance a major scandal in America that greatly weakened the public trust was the Watergate Scandal.

It is not a coincidence that the increased availability of news sources has been accompanied by increasing political polarization. Over time, polarization appears to have spread to the level of mass public opinion (Abramowitz & Saunders, 2006; Jacobson, 2006; Abrams, & Pope, 2005). For instance, in U.S. politics, Democrats’ and Republicans’ negative evaluations of a president of the other party have steadily intensified (Abramowitz & Saunders, 2006; Jacobson, 2006). The presidential approval data reveal a widening chasm between Republicans and Democrats; the percentage of partisans who respond at the extremes (‘‘strong approval’’ or ‘‘strong disapproval’’) has increased significantly over time. In fact, polarized assessments of U.S. presidential performance are higher today than at any other time in recent history, including the months preceding the resignation of President Nixon.

I believe that the American people are more likely to have short term memory loss when it comes to electing officials, or people in the limelight. As Americans, we do like drama and we do like to remember certain things about these individuals. However, as humans, we tend to overlook the bad or the good in some people and only focus on one side. We may forget a wrong that a presidential candidate has done, simply because he/she covered it up with something that made them seem exceptional, trustworthy, and dependable. A good example of this is Donald Trump. His supporters see an exceptional business man who gives them hope of making America great again. However, these people focus on the good things about him and tend to forget the negative