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Problem with Polarization


Mary Leonard


Political polarization has been growing at a rapid rate among government officials. Congress has been edging further and further apart, which does not accurately represent the views of the general population which remains fairly unpolarized. However, the media skews this and makes people think that the public is more polarized than it actually is by picking and prodding at only certain people at certain times. Polarization in Congress can be extremely harmful to the processes. The most recent Congresses are some of the most ineffective in history and have passed through very little instrumental legislation. It appears that they spend more time fighting each other than actually agreeing to pass legislation through. This is because polarization has caused strongly opposing ideals that don’t allow any room for leniency or compromise. The legislative branch therefore neglects legislation.
The graph below shows the fluctuations in polarization through the years. During times of war, it appears that the party mean was much lower than in the latter parts of both the 19th and 20th centuries. Currently, the distance is the highest it’s ever been, meaning that the bipartisan polarization is the furthest apart. From here on out, it seems that the mean with just keep increasing if no drastic change is made. (Lewis 2019)

A possible answer to the issue of growing polarization may lie within the scope of the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. This committee has taken steps to fix some of the problems that have been developing in Congress, including “increasing civility and collaboration, and improving the budget process” (Reklatis 2019). When Congress works together, or at least sees the view from the other side, more legislation gets passed, which makes collaboration a vital focal point.
Jennifer Victor, a professor at Virginia’s George Mason University, believes that a way of fixing the polarization problem would be by creating a Facebook platform where Democrats and Republicans could talk (Reklatis 2019). Along with this, she thinks that seats should be mixed up on the House floor (Reklatis 2019). Another suggestion by a representative was that there should be a bipartisan retreat for the legislative branch, as was done in 1990 (Reklatis 2019). Helping the representatives get to know each other better would help facilitate them working together on a day to day basis. The two houses need to realize that even though they have different ideals, they’re still on the same United States Government team. It is almost as if they have forgotten that the original purpose of the Legislative branch was to pass and amend legislation to better the lives of the citizens. The former Virginia Republican Representative, Tom Davis, said that whichever party that is the same as the president’s is just “an appendage of the executive branch”, and the minority is not the minority party, but instead the opposition party (Reklatis 2019).
The Market Watch article also discusses how there is trouble with retention in both Congress and jobs that assist it. It has been proposed that they pay staffers more so that they will stay longer and not switch over to higher paying jobs. Along with this, “raising the cap on the number of staff in member offices” would mean that offices are able to pay their employees more (Reklatis 2019). The longer people stay in their jobs, the better they tend to become at them. This, although not specified to polarization, would help create more stability in Congress; which may therefore help with unity and moving legislation through. 


Lewis, Jeff. Vote View. August 14, 2019. “Polarization in Congress.” Date Accessed, October
                            15, 2019. https://www.voteview.com/articles/party_polarization

Reklatis, Victor. Market Watch. October 8, 2019. “Meet the Committee on Capitol Hill That’s
Trying to Make Congress Great Again.” Date Accessed, October 15, 2019.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/meet-the-committee-on-capitol-hill-thats-trying-to make-congress-great-again-2019-10-04?mod=capitol-report

Comments

  1. Bridget MurphyOctober 18, 2019 at 2:26 PM

    I think you provide an insightful look into how polarization affects Congress’ effectiveness at passing legislation. It’s interesting in your graph that during times of recent wars, such as World War II and our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, the gap between the House and the Senate distances widen. I think you do a nice job providing new and interesting information: I didn’t even know there was a committee on modernizing Congress and that there are issues with retaining staffers who might consider switching to higher-paying jobs.

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