Though the United States is one of the world’s largest democracies, its political system is not perfect and needs reforms. Some of these problems stem from Trump administration and its use of power while others have inherently existed in the system but have been ignored. Some of the problems were revealed after the hit of COVID-19. No matter what the case, most of these problems have been listed and described below.
Balance of Power
Though on one hand, Americans really feel thankful for services provided by their government, on the other, they do feel that the government’s power needs to be restricted. Many people feel that there is too much interference by the government in the personal lives of people. These judgments are largely based on recent abortion laws.
There is a general consensus in people as well as the institutions about the increased use of the federal government’s power and how it needs to be balanced. The services Americans really love and feel thankful for include US Postal Service, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and Homeland Security Services, etc.
The Need For Increased Services and Other Problems
Another issue which is agreed upon by many factions of the society is the provision of increased services by the government. People and the political experts both agree that the United States government needs to do better in terms of the provision of medical and healthcare facilities. Not just healthcare facilities but infrastructure also needs to be paid attention too.
Moreover, Hispanic workers are pressing to be paid increased wages and supported via the healthcare system. There is an evident need for stricter gun laws to be enforced. In addition to all these, rising economic disparity and the loss of jobs due to the current pandemic hit is also one of the major concerns among the masses.
To add more to the list, gender equality, immigration, climate change, foreign policy, religious values, regulating the technological industry to ensure that people’s privacy is not breached, racial attitudes, social safety net, and taxation policies are all matters of grave concern for the masses. People expect the government to take some steps in these areas and limit its power usage in matters such as abortion and breaching privacy.
The Inability Of Political Parties To Realize The Truth
The inability of political candidates and their respective parties to realize the needs and wants of people is where the real problem lies. Their failure to understand that people want more government spending on basic civic amenities and lesser influence on childbirth and abortion policies is the real hurdle. In addition to this, partisanship is one of the leading causes of the divide in the political system.
The people of America, whether senators or voters are all equally falling prey to partisanship. Americans who have faith in God and associate morality with it would definitely oppose same-sex marriage whether Democrats, Republicans, or common voters. Similarly, many people are biased towards immigrants and gender equality. This is why the problems remain exactly where they were since the beginning of the Trump era and no mutual consensus has been achieved.
The possible solution to all of these problems could be a more pragmatic approach. For example, whether the Democrats or the Republicans, whoever sits in the office after the presidential elections 2020, they could create polls and ask for popular opinions. Involving Americans in such issues and getting their opinion on such issues might help the government take some decisive actions on these issues. Other ways to deal with partisanship include
Another way to deal with polarization among groups is frequent meetups among them. When the members of a group will meet more often, it will lead them to less prejudice towards each other. When people get to know each other and communicate, it leads to better understanding and less standalone stances on a certain issue.
Additionally, trying to view things from each other’s perspective may also help in dealing with partisanship. This solution comes from a place of empathy. When people try to step into each other’s shoes and view things from their perspective, it really helps in forming a consensus or reaching a more neutral solution to otherwise strongly disagreeable matters.
A more unity-oriented solution towards dealing with this polarization could be devising a higher power or purpose for the American nation and vesting our interests into that. This will help people from different backgrounds and stark differences to come together and identify with something higher in common, consequently leading to better solutions. This may include national pride or things that would unite all Americans regardless of their religious, racial, sexual, and other preferences and orientations.
The last way of dealing with partisanship could be assigning proper representation to all the political parties according to the number of votes they get, no matter how low. This means that if a political party gets 5% votes then they have a right to get 5 seats in the senate and other legal bodies.
This would ensure that nobody feels left out and all popular voices are heard. In this way, whichever the method Americans choose to deal with polarization in their political system, all opinions which exist in the American nation will get equal chances of representation before the final decisions are made.
The only way forward and needed to solve the problems existing in the United States economic and other systems is by trying to dilute the polarization existing in its political systems.
Even though it will be a difficult task but the solutions mentioned above are worth giving a try so that the whole nation resolves its differences and manages its bias towards each other. This is also the need of the hour because if this polarization is not dealt with, then no matter which political party wins, the issues of common people might still remain unresolved.