On Nov. 8, American voters will be eyeing on the final results of the midterm elections that will determine which political party will take control over the 118th United States Congress. This year’s election will not only decide who will take the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate, but also showcase how well President Joe Biden has been doing for the past two years since his inauguration.
As of now, the Democrats have an upperhand in the House by 222 to 213. Although the Senate is at a 50-50 deadlock, the Democrats gain control because of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Historically, the majority of midterm elections resulted in the ruling party losing its seat in both the House and the Senate. If the Republicans end up claiming victory over the Congress, the United States will return to a state of a divided government.
While a divided government can be beneficial in preventing extremist agendas and policies from passing the legislation, legislative gridlock can lead to adverse situations where vital legislations do not get passed.
Professor Jongkon Lee from the Department of Political Science & International Relations shared that the major problem with a divided government is not the division itself, but intensifying polarization within the government. The issue is that polarization will not get better any time soon.
According to Lee, there have been extremist forces emerging from both Democratic and Republican parties. It has been observed within the progressives to employ the expansion of identity politics including gender and racial politics. With increasing influence of younger politicians such as Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, identity politics will remain a key strategy in solidifying support from the left.
From the conservatives, a rise of extremist right-wing Trumpists is observed. Candidates who have openly endorsed former President Donald Trump have been recognized to perform better in recent elections. Meanwhile, mainstream Republicans who have voted for Trump’s impeachment have either announced retirement or lagged behind in polls.
As political parties diverge towards opposite political ends, healthy democracy will be more difficult to achieve. The basic understanding of democracy is that the state will implement policies that the majority of the population wants. However, Lee points out that this phenomenon is not mirrored in polarized politics.
Political polarization exists because politics depend on those who are politically active. When political ideologies of individuals are drawn in a graph, it usually resembles a bell curve. What this means is that most voters tend to be centrists rather than extremists. Politicians are more interested in appealing to politically active voters who would secure votes for them. Since most centrists are politically inactive, politicians would take in more feedback from interest groups that ensure political support.
“In the past, polarization has often resulted from single issues such as slavery and economics,” Lee said. “However, the current polarization trends in the United States showcase that almost all issues have separated into two political ends.”
Political scientists project that this all comes down to the worsening state of inequality within the United States. As interests between “the haves” and “the have-nots” split further away from each other, political polarization will most likely carry on.
The rise of political polarization is not a concern for only the United States, but a general issue across the globe. On Sept. 25, far-right leader Giorgia Meloni claimed victory over the prime minister seat of Italy, expecting to create the most right-wing government since World War II. Five months back, Emmanuel Macron was reelected as president, defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the second round of French elections.
During the first round of the election held on April 10, a growing support for extremist groups from both political sides have been revealed. Far- left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon came close to climbing up to the second round with approximately 22 percent of the votes, only a little over a percent away from winning Le Pen who came second. Éric Zemmour who is a far-right candidate came in fourth with over seven percent of votes.
Waël Lassoued, a French exchange student from the Sciences Po, believed that France is divided more than ever. Right-wing politicians are concentrated on tackling nationalist agendas including immigration, while the left are focused on protecting human rights and the environment.
“Many people seemed to have lost hope in politics,” he said. “After witnessing responses to the Yellow Jacket crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and corruption scandals, people do not trust in politics as much as they have compared to the past.”
A historically high percentage of abstention rate has been identified for this year’s elections. Over 28 percent of voters opted to not vote for the second round of the presidential election, which has been the second highest abstention rate since 1969.
Iris Attil, a French exchange student from Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, agreed that many voters feel like their votes matter less. As the run-off candidates were the same as last year, it felt like the election results would be no different from what it was in 2017.
Attil stressed the importance of refraining from ignorance. She noticed a growing number of people who completely disregard certain issues, presuming that the subject will not matter to them.
“The problem is not necessarily that people have different opinions about the agendas, but they do not take into account or have an understanding of others' opinions,” she said.
As polarization exacerbates in disparate states, individuals need to become more wary of the political scene.