11/21 Debate Primer: Divided Government
The United States finds itself in an era of unprecedented political division. As Republicans’ and Democrats’ opinions of each other decline, Americans expect partisan relations to decline, with almost a majority of Americans saying their party should halt negotiation over key issues if it means stopping the opposing party. As a result of the recent midterm elections, the US government will be divided in the coming years, with Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, and Democrats controlling the Senate and White House. That leads us to the important resolution which we will be debating this week: A divided government is good for American politics.
Supporters of divided government may argue that a unified government is prone to excessive zeal when passing legislation that only half of Americans actually support. These same people might argue that divided governments are methodical and focus on passing legislation through political consensus - which may be both more popular and qualitatively superior:
This article from the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute points out, among other things, how the US has had better GDP growth under divided governments, and how unified governments are more trigger-happy when deciding whether or not to enter wars.
This article from CNN argues that divided governments are more productive than people think, pointing out major legislation (such as the first major COVID relief package) that was passed under a divided government.
Opponents of divided government may argue that divided governments prevent the US from passing enough major legislation. This might cause the US to fall behind more politically efficient developed countries:
This article from US News argues that only through unified governments can the US break out of gridlock and restore faith in institutions and that allowing the government to be unified will further elucidate the goals of each party.
This opinion piece from Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman pushes back against the widely held belief within the private sector that divided governments are good for the economy (Note: this piece is behind a paywall but click this link to view it).
Do you have an opinion on this matter that you want to share? Join us at 7:00 pm in 212 Scott Hall on Monday, November 21st!
"Washington DC - Capitol Hill: United States Capitol" by wallyg is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
