Written by Carter Thweatt
The way we do government in America is broken — and has been for a long time. The two-party system, which George Washington warned against in his farewell address, has failed us and the problem goes much deeper than any one politician. If you’re reading this article hoping for a flashy takedown of Joe Biden, Donald Trump or any other political figure, you’re going to be disappointed. The problem with American politics is not the people involved with it — it is the system we use, which is completely broken. In fact, this system encourages half of our elected officials to quite literally sabotage the country.
To understand what I mean by this, we must first understand what perfect politics — or a perfect government — would look like. I’ve created this working definition, which I think most people would at least somewhat agree with. In a perfect world, our government would consist of intelligent leaders who we elect to make decisions and laws to fix problems within our country. If the U.S. Senate sees that unemployment is high, they should try to work together to come up with a solution. If the House of Representatives sees that healthcare is unaffordable for most Americans, they should try to find a way to change that. These politicians, in an ideal world, would try to fix the problems we face as a nation.
There’s one problem with this. Americans tend to blame the president — and the president’s political party — for everything that goes wrong in our country and give them credit for things that go right. So if the country is doing well in an election year, people will probably vote for the president’s party. If things are going poorly, people will likely vote against the president’s party. We’ve seen this recently — with gas prices high and inflation rising, many American voters have been blaming Biden, and Republicans picked up seats in the House as a result. Please note: I am not making any kind of statement on whether or not Biden is to blame for these things — I am simply stating that regardless of whether he is or not, people are blaming him — and Democrats.
So let’s go back to that definition of “perfect politics,” where elected officials work together to make the country the best it can be. If you’re a Republican senator, you could work together with Biden and Democrats to try and lower gas prices. There’s one problem — it might actually work, and then people will see the lowered gas prices and give Biden the credit. This may lead to Democrats doing well in the next election, which may lead to you losing your job. What’s the alternative? If you’re the party opposite the president, it’s making America worse. Why would an elected official want to do that? Because most voters will see the pitiful state the country is in and do what Americans tend to do — blame the president. Then they might vote against his party, which could lead to a very successful election for you and your party. So this is the government we have in America — one where a politician who tries to fix problems might lose his or her job, and one who actively tries to ruin the country might win their party in the next election. It’s why instead of “finding solutions” and “working together,” politicians talk about “stopping the president’s agenda.” They know that if the president is in a different political party, a ruined America means votes for them. It’s a sobering realization — our political system encourages half the politicians in office to make things worse for us. However, it’s one we need to accept because the sooner we can change this system, the better off we’ll be.
