Matt Salazar Prac. 1- Political Polarization and the Rise of Partisanship

In George Washington’s farewell address to the American people before the election 1796, he addressed the political dangers of the formation of groups and parties, believing that the government would not be able to execute its ability to govern. Although it is natural for people to form political parties, Washington recognized the dangers that such a formation would be an enemy to the government due to the tendency to seek more power than other parties or groups. During the Glided Age in the 19th century, the US had seen one of the most polarized periods that it ever witness during the 1896 election, with the creation of “safe seats” for elected officials running for reelection or anyone affiliated with the political party of that “safe seat”. Since the 1990s all the way through the 21st century, the United States has never been more divided, with the media and political figures creating this great division in modern day politics. More Americans have begun the movement of moving further from the center and moving closer to the left and right of politics.

As the political issues of the day become more partisan, the greater the division in Congress has become more wider than ever with politicians being a cause for it, creating a bigger divide than we’ve ever seen since the Civil War. More Americans have followed this lead by taking up more radical and extreme views and beliefs in their system of beliefs, which in turn creates a polarization in politics where we as a country can’t work together or even start a conversation with someone that has opposing views. A recent study in 2020 from Brown University found the U.S. was becoming more polarized than most democratic countries. The idea of political violence has also seen a rise with the public not trusting science, Congress, the media, our democratic process, and are judicial system, with that polarization has led to the reduction in our democratic beliefs and norms. As polarization becomes a much more greater issue than the issues that we are facing as a country, the likeliness of any of them are bound to get solved, especially with the issues that modern day political parties are facing today as well.

Questions

1. Do you think that the idea of forming a political group or party was a good idea?
2. What were some of the reasons during Washingtons time in office, that political parties were formed in the first place?
3. Do you think the idea of creating “safe seats” led to the cause of redistricting and gerrymandering? Do you believe that both sides of the political aisle of have made it harder for people to vote?
4. Partisanship has become an issue in Congress and has led to both members of the Democratic and Republican Party to not work together. What has led this to become an issue? Why has it become an issue? Is there a way for both parties to work together and show bipartisanship?
5. In recent events, people have lost faith in our democratic process and the right to vote, but recently Alaska has adopted the idea of ranked choice voting. Does this system help lower down the political polarization that we see in our country? Or does it create further division?

When doing this assignment it felt pretty great and exciting. As someone who wants to be a teacher in the coming future, I thought it was a great opportunity for me to able to create assignment for my future students.