The impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019 resulted in different, extreme thoughts between the political parties. This division of ideas is known as Political polarization: the formation of beliefs at two distant and opposite poles. Built on the foundation of the Constitution, the United States became a two-party system, primarily because of the winner-take-all electoral system. The winner-take-all system allows electoral votes to go to the political majority within the state; with more than two leading parties, no candidate would be able to achieve the 270 electoral college threshold. The winner-take-all system discourages voter turnout because it often leads voters to choose the candidate who aligns most closely with their views rather than one who fully represents them, directly contributing to two sides of the spectrum: Republicans and Democrats.
Through strong opposing beliefs of voters, protests and violence arise. Most notably, on January 6, 2021, otherwise known as Inauguration Day—a ceremony that welcomes the new president into the Capitol—many extremists in favor of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol. While raiding the Capitol, the rioters broke windows and vandalized offices; many showed severely violent actions towards Congress members and Vice President Mike Pence. The aftermath of such a protest left five dead, one of which was an officer for the Capitol. The mob mentality of these protesters demonstrated collective fears and concerns for right-wingers, using violent tactics to induce fear. Extreme rhetoric from Trump—claiming that the election got rigged—provided a reason for people in favor of his presidency to storm the Capitol building. Moreover, in his speech before the raid, Trump urged voters to “fight” and that Democrats showed their support and nationalism more than Conservatives did. Comments like those make people believe that this polarization between the two parties indirectly prompted the violent protest.
Animosity through social media platforms directly threatens democracy by providing a space for groups of people to voice extreme ideas, making compromises between parties more difficult. Additionally, the media gives presidents an outlet to directly respond to comments made about them or misinformation about their platform. Through forming a direct connection with people, an “Us vs. Them” mentality forms, providing one of the biggest threats to the United States. Employing active but vigorous language while forming a point, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump formulate the narrative that their opposing side is entirely wrong, creating a waging gap between supporters. Similarly, presidential candidates using the bully pulpit method—directly responding to supporters and comments through social media—reduces bipartisan cooperation by promoting differing extremist ideals.
Political polarization increases the distrust that people have with the government, leading to radical movements. This underlying effect directly threatens the voice that people have in the government, undermining the fundamental principles of democracy due to hostility from both citizens and government officials. There are four probable outcomes from the path of polarization in the United States: the country manages to depolarize and keep the rights of people intact, the country depolarizes but the peoples’ rights drastically suffer, the country lives with polarization while the rights of the people are the same as before, and the country has substantial polarization and the rights of the people are severely limited. Reflecting the urgency of polarization, the United States must work together to reduce these high levels.
Written by Michael Shohat
