The danger of tribal politics

Editor,

An American historian once defined our national politics as the “systematic organization of hatreds.” Although this observation was made years ago, it is just as true today. In 2020, who you hate is who you are. Our parties today are largely driven by “tribal politics”, by what they are against, rather than what they are for. Political scientists call this phenomenon negative partisanship, and its dominance was on full display at both the Democratic and Republican conventions. The type of partisanship on display by both parties was filled with dire predictions of what things will overwhelm the United States if they are not elected. Both Democratic and Republican partisans have come to despise the other tribe and their elected leaders in a deeply profound way and also to despise any of those who might follow them. In this hyper- partisan environment, ticket splitting has become rare, and in any given election 90% of Democrats and Republicans vote a straight ticket for their party without any real evaluation of any of the other sides candidates, qualities and proposed policies. Our descent into “tribal politics” has harnessed the fear and hatred of the other party which although it can drive turnout and has been the key to winning national elections has paralyzed our government so that almost nothing is being accomplished in Washington for the wellbeing of the American people. But as we stumble down this road, we are headed toward a profound danger: For democracies to function, voters must consider and vote for things that will make our nation successful not just to obtain power for their “tribe”, they must also be willing to concede and accept defeat. Once the votes are counted, the losers must concede defeat and accept that their opponents have a legitimate, if temporary, claim on power. With the current manipulation on who can vote and by what method and where they can vote, will this happen this November? And if it doesn’t what then?

John O’Grady

Saratoga, Wyoming

 

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