Politics Most Americans have very negative views of U.S. politics

Maciamo

Maciamo

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The US-based Pew Research Center published a new report named Americans’ Dismal Views of the Nation’s Politics. The nationwide survey found that 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. 89% were angry about politics these days, while only 10% were hopeful and a mere 5% excited about politics. Few democracies in the developed world are faring so badly. The situation has become dire after decades of increasing polarisation and corruption. The most common adjectives that describe how Americans view their country's politics are all negative:

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The biggest issue seems to be the constant partisan bickering between Democrats and Republicans, which more often than not eclipses the real issues the country is dealing with, so that very little gets done.

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The main culprit for this state of affairs seems to be "big money", be it from corporate and billionaire donors or lobbyists, which make it nearly impossible for outsiders to challenge the two main parties. So there is little hope that things are going to change any time soon.

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A record 28% of Americans now have unfavourable opinions of both Democrats and Republicans.

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A majority of Americans think that having more than two parties would get a long way in fixing the situation. The United States is the only Western country with only two major political parties.

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There are many ways to improve the current system with reforms. For example limiting the number of terms that members of Congress can serve and setting a maximum age limit. The current Congress has never been so old. It looks like a gerontocracy. The vast majority of Americans agree, but what are the changes of Congress members voting to restrict their own privileges? It's like asking a dog to relinquish its bone.

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What do you think ?
 
American politics are definitely exhausting, I'm so tired of hearing about Trump's legal issues, and Biden's incompetence.

I think there should certainly be term limits, it is appalling to have people clearly unfit to rule due to advanced age.

I am pleased to see that "Requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote" is so popular.

These are all fairly bi-partisan positions, with the exception of "Requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote" is so popular". This is typically rejected by Democrats (at least that's what the politicians do, seems like many democrat voters support it according to the poll)

I certainly think big money in politics has further eroded the ability of government to act responsibly.

I think automatically registering people to vote is a bad idea. If you can't take the time to register yourself, you don't deserve to have the right to vote. It is sort of like a de facto intelligence test, which I think we need more of, even de jure tests.

For some reason, people falsely have the idea that democracy is morally superior because it allows the majority to rule. But there's countless examples one can point to, to demonstrate that a tyranny of the masses is untenable, and terrible.

First of all, there's the fact that the majority of people don't think very deeply about stately issues, and have a mediocre level of intelligence. By allowing more people to have an automate vote, will yield a sub-optimal society. IMO

As for more parties, there's currently multiple parties, but they just don't pick up enough support. That's more the fault of the voters; but with all the money behind the two major parties, they'll always be drowned out.

As for both parties being less supported, it actually could serve their grip on power. About 25% of the USA are Democrats, another 25% are Republican, the other 50% are independents or non-political/don't participate. The GOP and Dems have their fundamentalist supporters, they probably don't want critically thinking "Interlopers" spoiling their models and projections.
 
Another survey from last week shows that public trust in government in the US is at a dismal 16%, close to the historic low of 2011 at 15%. In 1967 it peaked at 77%. It is mostly Nixon, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. (all Republican presidents, by the way) who brought public trust in government so low, and it hasn't recovered since.

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Iulius said:
I am pleased to see that "Requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote" is so popular.
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It's hard for a European to believe that it's still possible to vote at elections without a proper ID in the USA. ID cards are compulsory in most of the EU and, to the best of my knowledge, it is not possible to vote with an ID anywhere in the EU. Modern European ID cards are electronic and biometric and almost impossible to falsify.
 
I think this is also around the time that television become widely diffused in the USA to most homes.

I know that this played a significant role during the Cold War, and the Civil Rights movement to change peoples' attitudes.

Perhaps this says something about the escalation of mass media and the affect it had on U.S. politics.
 
Maciamo said:
It's hard for a European to believe that it's still possible to vote at elections without a proper ID in the USA. ID cards are compulsory in most of the EU and, to the best of my knowledge, it is not possible to vote with an ID anywhere in the EU. Modern European ID cards are electronic and biometric and almost impossible to falsify.
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I myself find it hard to believe, but the claim is that it has a disparate impact on minorities.

This is according to the ACLU


I feel like when most foreigners scratch the surface, they'll find a lot of things wrong with the US.
 
nypost.com

US Sen. Dianne Feinstein dead at 90

The California Democrat was the oldest member of the Senate and had announced plans to retire at the end of her term.
nypost.com nypost.com

So pathetic it took death by old age to get her out of office. I'm not happy when people die, (unless they're murderers and/or rapists) but wouldn't she have had a better life in her twilight years just being retired?
 
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