Increasing Partisanship Threatens National Unity

Partisanship – favoring one side over the competition – has been a feature of our politics since 1796 when Americans chose sides between John Adams’ Federalists and Thomas Jefferson’s Republican Democrats.

Partisanship is a normal reaction to conflict.  “Our team” is favored over “theirs”.  Loyalty to one’s side is viewed as a priority before consideration of policy or performance.

 

So it’s non-productive to bemoan the existence of partisanship:  it’s a fact of human nature.  But that’s not to say that partisanship is harmless.

Idealistically, one likes to think that differences of opinion are resolved in a peaceful, respectful manner, as in “let’s agree to disagree” politely with our foes.

 

That ideal may have once been an expectation held by many, perhaps most, Americans, except for the few decades before, during and after our Civil War.

 

Are those bitter, hostile times returning?  Take note of the increasing coarseness and vulgarity of American life.  TV “bleeps” obscene comments by presidential candidates during the recent campaign and by representatives of the losing campaign (newly elected DNC chairman Tom Perez, in particular).

 

Those on the receiving end of such diatribes are not likely to consider such verbal assaults as “respectful disagreement”.  Rather, the speech conveys the source’s apparent hatred and disgust with the target.  It is to be expected that the appraisal is reciprocated.  And the circle closes.

 

It is no surprise, then, that polling reveals a dramatic increase in the level and intensity of the partisan divide in the country.

Twenty years ago, according to a Pew Research poll, 57% of Democrats had a negative view of Republicans.  Now it’s nearly 80%.  The GOP view of Democrats two decades ago was 68% antagonistic.  Today it’s over 80%.  Twice as many of each party since 1994 view the opposition “very unfavorably”.

Members of the other party are condemned not merely for contrary views but for personal and character deficiencies.

 

Democrats consider Republicans more than other Americans to be dishonest (42%), immoral (35%) and stupid (33%).

As a reverse, Republicans see Democrats, more than other Americans, to be Immoral (47%), dishonest (45%) and lazy (46%). 

Polling did not sample Independents’ views of the two major parties.  And since such voters represent an increasing percentage of the American electorate, one does not wish to overstate the negative consequences of the deep and harsh views that these two parties have of each other.  But the trends are, nonetheless, foreboding.  How can a nation remain united in confronting its foes in the world when the two principal political segments hate each other? 

It is not hyperbole to suggest that there’s more than a touch in the present circumstances to compare our predicament with that existing before the Civil War which began in 1861.