Chapter 9 Essay: Political Parties

There is a reason religion and politics are typically off-limits topics at dinner parties and the like, because some people stand behind their political views and party affiliations as strongly as if it were their religion and when they come against opposing views, it can make for an awkward or even explosive situation. Although the Framers of the Constitution did not necessarily anticipate the forming of political parties, they have become an integral part of our government today. The parties are broadly defined as “organized groups that attempt to influence the government by electing their members to important government offices” (Ginsberg 329), but they serve other purposes which include seeking out potential candidates, encouraging citizens to vote, streamlining complicated legislature and debates for the public (and elected officials) and generally trying to serve as a collective “voice of the people” or conduit between the everyday individual and the government, a sort of middle man between the government and citizens/interest groups. “Political parties help the government respond to the needs and desires of its citizens.” (Ginsberg 327). Parties serve the general public, special interest groups and themselves as they compete to gain political power and studies have shown (unsurprisingly) that they tend to cater towards the wealthy and middle-class as opposed to the underprivileged. Nonetheless, they play a critical role in government and democracy because they educate the public about the current issues and work to develop laws and other legislature that benefit their constituents.

Although there have been two major parties dominating much of history since the 1780’s Democrat and Republican, there are also third parties. Individuals tend to view voting for third party candidates as “wasting” their votes since the larger two parties control the majority and generally win on election day; third parties still play an important role because they can often bring new items of social or economic significance to the attention of the larger parties which may not have otherwise received their attention. Each party has their own fundamental causes they support and these have shifted over time. Currently, it can be said that the Democratic party is more liberal supporting more funding for social services, environmental reform, cutting military spending and taxing the wealthy whereas the Republican party focuses on increasing military spending, strict immigration laws, cutting social programs and supporting the wealthy and businesses with tax breaks. Parties seek to appeal to their voters through shared stances on these and other items and use this support to win elections, increase their control and subsequently use this control to pass laws that further their causes. Supposedly, they should be polling the public to find out what they want/need and work to institute laws and policies that serve the general public but in today’s government, it feels like the people have less of a say and the politicians are the ones deciding what is best for everyone whether the citizens agree or not. The dominating parties today are often at opposite ends of the spectrum on current issues, and, these strong competing priorities can cause a deadlock (party polarization) with “members of each party unified around their party’s positions with little crossover” (Ginsberg 357), like in 2013 and earlier this year which caused the government funding to run out and shutdown until a compromise could be reached.

In our current politically polarized climate, the divide is so large between the parties I am not sure there is much that could spark collaborative cooperation between them. Other nations have multi party government systems, such as the Netherlands which has 11 parties in legislature with three to four major ones, which seem to align with a wider voter spectrum and more accurate national representation. Here in the U.S., we are much more limited with the two majority parties not necessarily representing a wide variety of issues and Americans being forced to choose one, perhaps the lesser of two evils that may not closely agree with their overall beliefs or values. However, I do think it would provide some benefit to include additional parties to compete with the current majority ones because it could force them to come together in opposition of the new party (i.e. the enemy of my enemy is my friend). With that said, I think politics today is messy and dirty and so many seem to be out for their own agendas and not the good of the people or the country. So many are being indicted for crimes and I dread campaign season because T.V and radio commercials are fraught with ad’s in which candidates are too busy slandering their opponents to even mention how they will make a positive difference if they are elected. What happened to the positive messages and promises of a better nation? Instead it has become about how much damning evidence or dirt you can gather on your opponents in order to make yourself look better. Why do we feel as if we have to knock others down so we can stand taller? When I look at Congress now, they remind me of kids who don’t get along and refuse to play together. Each so wrapped up in their own ideals and visions they cannot bother to see anyone else’s perspective, and certainly not the one of “we the people”.

Works Cited

Ginsberg, Lowi, Weir, Tolbert. We The People. New York: W.W. Norton & company Inc., 2017.