The Pros And Cons Of Polarized Congress

Is congress a dysfunctional institution? Columnist Ezra Klein contends that institutional deadlock and partisan rancor have paralyzed congress, causing it to lose power to the president and the bureaucracy. Former Massachusetts Senator Mo Cowan describes he has to come view the work of congress along with fellow members after fulfilling the remainder of John Kerry’s term upon the nomination of Governor Deval Patrick.

This inclination towards pleasing voters leads to a division in congress. The congressmen who wish to be reelected by their people will support arguments that benefit these people. They simply

Another thing that can contribute to congressional gridlock is gerrymandering. What is gerrymandering? Well gerrymandering is the process of setting electoral districts and practicing the attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan advantaged districts. This has been going on for a long time, though without the current precision in desired results. The result of this process is that most congressional and legislative districts are effectively non-competitive between the two political

Congressional gridlock has been around for centuries in Congress and does not seem to be changing anytime soon. Congressional gridlock refers to the inaction of the government and failure to make a decision or legislative law that satisfy the needs of the people. This inaction of the government and stagnation occurs when two parties cannot agree on a single matter, and they cannot come to a good agreement on how or when the law is going to be passed, thus leaving complex problems in the nation unhandled. Congressional gridlock does not just come and take over the government on its own, though. It is evident that congressional gridlock is a major problem in the American government that needs to be addressed because there are so many root causes that the government fails to fix including gerrymandering and a lack of “bridge-builders.” Solutions to these causes that have yet to be made include improving the system of checks and balances and reducing representative dynamics and some of the nation’s most pressing problems that should not even be examples of congressional gridlock include climate change and the gun laws issue.

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 increasing importance of big money in campaigns has also heightened the polarization within Congress. Candidates have been forced to develop strong views on the most polarizing topics, such as abortion, LGBT rights, and gun regulations. If a candidate does not express strong views on these topics, wealthy Republican or Democratic super PACs are not likely to back them. This has caused more gridlock in Congress as many members are not willing to compromise on these important topics (La Raja

One reason why congress appears loggerheads with one another is the policy and ideology because whenever an idea does

Gridlock is caused by a variety of other factors. Both branches of Congress might have the same party majority, but the President may be of another. If this happens, the President may resort to his veto powers to stop a piece of legislation from continuing and or his executive order powers to progress a specific bill to be passed.. Another cause of gridlock is extreme party polarization. The gap between parties is quickly growing and there aren’t enough independents and moderates to even the scale. Back in 2013, there were only 6 moderates in all of Congress. The officials aren’t all to blame though. The people’s voting habits have an effect on gridlock. Through the years, incumbents have been repeatedly voted back into office. This continuous cycle is going to further increase the presence of gridlock. New ideas and minds are being kept out of Congress and having the same viewpoints in control is going to hinder

Congressional gridlock is not a modern invention in the world of politics. Alexander Hamilton use to complain about the deadlock “flaw” in the design of Congress. In politics, “Congressional gridlock” is a situation in Congress where there are complications in passing laws for the people. Gridlock could be prevented if we had a democracy for the majority and unified. While many view this as frustrating, gridlocks are starting to become a political norm. This leads to a divided government. Congressional gridlock in the states has become an everyday topic that nobody really understands what to do. The creation of gridlock is seen every day. The failure that Congress comes with when trying to agree upon the nation’s budget, or have the right

Congress currently has the lowest approval rating they have ever had, however, the incumbent reelection rates are over 90%. This points to a culture where cooperation and compromise are no longer the prime objective. People expect their congressman to force their issue and not compromise on issues that may be contrary to their beliefs. According to America’s

Presently in today 's congress, the job of congressman/woman is becoming very difficult. With the senate being controlled by democrats and the House of Representatives being controlled by Republican. The part of the Job to be a consensus builder is proved to be very long and difficult. Two very different political parties with very different political ideas. Agreeing on such ideas between the two can be long and tedious. Especially when drafting and creating laws. This disagreement between parties can be be interpreted by the public and especially the media as Congress being lazy and doing nothing.So what are they actually doing? Why does Congress seem to be doing nothing? The answer is not whether congress’s has good work ethic , because according to a recent article in USA Today a congressman works on average 70 hours a week while in Washington and a 59 hour week while back in their home districts.(Korte) The 112th congress, are now Congress

Thus, removing the two party system is not a solution to this problem, however it is likely not an impacting factor to the polarization. Rather, the decisive factor here is what many call the “information age” we live in. With ever growing amounts of data bases, blogging sites, news sources, and social media, people have begun to pick and choose exactly what they wish to hear. Suddenly it’s possible to read an article or opinionated paper on a topic with no counter argument to balance it. As President Obama put it in an recent interview, our media is so splintered, ”they almost occupy two different realities in how they see the world.” Thus as people follow one news source, we come to find america a country that lives in two distinct party views, two distinct realities. Granted, while our media is not the only impacting factor, for instance, other factors like political gerrymandering and communal exposure also subliminally impact our political polarization, the media is perhaps the most upfront and overbearing of all these

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

Politics has changed so much over the years that it has become a knockout fight between Demarcates and Republicans. Centralism has disappeared in favor of extreme left and extreme right. Congresswoman Olympia Snowe left congress as a result of this change. Snowe now aids in the effort to reform congress by encouraging less extremism and more cooperation. She hopes to change the environment in congress and increase cooperation and advancement in the political system. The approval rating of congress is declining. Freakonomics Radio asks different politicians and scholars from both sides of the political spectrum what ideas and practices must go to improve the political atmosphere and

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.