Polarization in the Political System

A detailed Summary of Polarization in the Political System

On Tuesday, November 14, 1995, in what has been perceived as

the years biggest non-event, the federal government shut down all

"non-essential" services due to what was, for all intents and

purposes, a game of national "chicken" between the House Speaker and

the President. And, at an estimated cost of 200 million dollars a day,

this dubious battle of dueling egos did not come cheap (Bradsher,

1995, p.16). Why do politicians find it almost congenitally

impossible to cooperate? What is it about politics and power that seem

to always put them at odds with good government? Indeed, is an

effective, well run government even possible given the current

adversarial relationship between our two main political parties? It

would seem that the exercise of power for its own sake, and a

competitive situation in which one side must always oppose the other

on any issue, is incompatible with the cooperation and compromise

necessary for the government to function. As the United States becomes

more extreme in its beliefs in general, group polarization and

competition, which requires a mutual exclusivity of goal attainment,

will lead to more "showdown" situations in which t

seek to emulate (p. 434). Unfortunately, this circle of polarization

hostility with post-election statesmanship, then we may find a way to

the government and then starting it up again a few days later? What's

are interrelated. Group polarization tends to exacerbate inter-group

the possibility of compromise since failure usually leads to a

Johnson was unwilling to get out of the Vietnam war because he didn't

costing a lot of money, it had no discernible effect except as a power

The role of competition in our political system is an inherently

politics is" or say that "competition is human nature", or perhaps

the predilection towards making statements for short term political

Approximate Word count = 2278
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics

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