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1 Political Polarization Within the Legislative Process

2 Ever since the Founding Fathers signed the Constitution in 1776, political polarization has become more and more of an issue. Specifically, within the legislative process between society and law makers, political polarization has affected policy making and society more than ever. Although there is no main cause of political polarization, there are many drivers that cause the issue to become more prominent across the United States. In the current political climate, media, districting, and society in general drive political polarization exponentially, causing the bipartisan divide. Throughout this paper, I will discuss how polarization is an issue within the legislative branch and how legislatures themselves aid polarization. I will also discuss in depth how the media, including social media and news outlets use censoring, media bias, and algorithms with a focus on how society uses confirmation bias to aid in increasing the difference in ideologies. Lastly, I will discuss how redistricting and gerrymandering cause polarization, particularly due to landslide counties and voting policies. Political polarization is defined in simple terms as the continuing divide of political parties based on ideologies and policy views. As time has gone on and America has progressed, conservatives are constantly moving more towards the right and liberals are constantly moving more towards the left 1 . Conservatives are historically known as believing in individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, fiscal responsibility, etc. 2 Liberals on the other hand are historically known for believing the opposite, individualism, universalism, pluralism, etc. 3 When 1 “Explainer: Political Polarization in the United States.” Explainers. Facing History and Ourselves. Accessed January 27, 2022. https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/current-events/explainer/political- polarization-united-states. 2 Mike Johnson, “7 Core Principles of Conservatism,” U.S. Congressman Mike Johnson, accessed February 16, 2022, https://mikejohnson.house.gov/7-core-principles-of-conservatism/. 3 2017 Paul Crider·April 1 et al., “Principles of Liberalism,” Liberal Currents, January 8, 2021, https://www.liberalcurrents.com/liberalism-article-paul-crider/.

3 two parties with different beliefs are expected to make decisions for the country, there are obviously issues that come along throughout the process. Political polarization has been an ongoing issue dating back to 1877 mainly within Congress 4 . With the House of Representatives and the Senate each having their own different party majority at times, legislation has been difficult to get passed with different viewpoints being a continual swelling issue. In their article on the legislative process and political polarization, How Party Polarization Makes the Legislative Process Even Slower When Government Is Divided, Tyler Hughes and Devon Carlson argue that political polarization has actually caused Congress to move at a slowed rate when it comes to policy making. They particularly note that The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 took an additional 187 days to pass because the split bipartisanship caused inefficiency within Congress mostly due to the lack of compromise 5 . Difficulty with creating or approving one policy will also lead to difficulty with other policies; thus creating a domino effect and causing Congress to operate inefficiently. Compromise can be difficult when it comes to politics because both parties very obviously want different outcomes when it comes to anything, but most importantly legislation. In the long run, if the process of one bill being passed is decelerated, it’s very common for the process of other bills being passed to be affected as well. Also, within the legislative process, Congress members have more recently started to cause political polarization. This is partly due to the concept of party majority. In his 4 John S. Lapinski, “Chapter 3,” in The Substance of Representation: Congress, American Political Development, and Lawmaking (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), pp. 61-70. 5 Tyler Hughes and Devon Carlson, “How Party Polarization Makes the Legislative Process Even Slower When Government Is Divided.,” USAPP, May 21, 2015, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2015/05/19/how- party-polarization-makes-the-legislative-process-even-slower-when-government-is-divided/.

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4 article about Congress’s role in polarization, It’s Congress’s Fault: How Congress Polarizes America, Josh Huder blames majority party leaders, like the Speaker of the House. He states that the Speaker of the House chooses who is on the Rules Committee, which decides what bills go to the floor; if the Speaker doesn’t agree with what bills are being taken to the floor, they can choose new members, causing even more issues because one party holds the control to run politics their way, aiding in polarization. Huder also states that policy votes are political: “They are meant to distinguish the two parties rather than create good public policy.” 6 This also leads to inefficient work within Congress. The legislative process is practically meant to cause a partisan divide and Congress members do their jobs with this in mind. Congress is probably the main cause of political polarization due to the fact that the constant battle between parties toward policy and legislation makes policy making less about the well-being of the country and more about which party “wins” when it’s decided if a bill is passed or vetoed. The media is another example of a cause of the bipartisan divide, largely due to confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is defined as the tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one’s existing beliefs. 7 In today’s world, people choose what news station they watch based on what political party they identify with. For example, people who are right leaning generally watch mostly Fox News and people who are left leaning generally watch mostly Cable News Network (more popularly known as CNN) 8 . These news stations produce content that is biased based on their party preference, 6 Josh Huder, “It's Congress's Fault: How Congress Polarizes America,” The Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University (Georgetown University ), accessed February 16, 2022, https://gai.georgetown.edu/its- congresss-fault-how-congress-polarizes-america/. 7 Bettina J Casad, “Confirmation Bias,” Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.), accessed February 16, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/science/confirmation-bias. 8 Amy Mitchell et al., “Section 1: Media Sources: Distinct Favorites Emerge on the Left and Right,” Pew Research Center's Journalism Project (Pew Research Center, August 28, 2020), https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2014/10/21/section-1-media-sources-distinct-favorites-emerge-on-the-

5 causing more of a divide with different versions of different stories constantly airing. This becomes an even more prevalent issue around the time of major elections; an excellent example would be the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Stations will produce good stories on their party candidates, making their candidate look better and bad stories on the other party’s candidates, making them look worse. Since so many Americans receive their information regarding politics from the media, this continues to drive the split, causing political polarization to increase due to the fact that people only receive their information from one source. Although this doesn’t necessarily affect the accuracy of information, it only gives people one narrative, which could lead to people producing uninformed views on political topics and voting on subjects they don’t understand. This also includes social media; on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. people have freedom to post whatever they want to, no matter if it’s true or false, under the First Amendment’s Freedom of Speech Clause. In their article on social media’s impact on polarization, How Tech Platforms Fuel U.S. Political Polarization and What Government Can Do About It, Paul Barrett, Justin Hendrix, and Grant Sims argue that although not the main cause of polarization, social media contributes to partisan animosity. Specifically, Facebook’s algorithms limiting users from seeing posts with viewpoints different from their own. The author’s quote an experiment that proves when Facebook users aren’t on the platform, the polarization of policy issue views decreases. 9 Social media became an larger cause during the Capitol riot on January 6 th , 2021. On this day, people of all different political parties were all over social media posting. Those who attacked the capital, which consisted of extremist groups left-and-right/. 9 Paul Barrett, Justin Hendrix, and Grant Sims, “How Tech Platforms Fuel U.S. Political Polarization and What Government Can Do about It,” Brookings (Brookings, January 31, 2022), https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/09/27/how-tech-platforms-fuel-u-s-political-polarization-and- what-government-can-do-about-it/.

6 such as the Proud Boys, the Nationalist Socialist Club, the Oath Keepers, etc. 10 gathered members through social media and kept posting throughout the day to keep those who weren’t in attendance updated. In the HBO documentary, Four Hours at the Capitol, Dan Reed shows many different perspectives from the riot and uses specific examples of people posting and bragging that they were in attendance. Specifically, it shows Proud Boy, Eddie Block live streaming the whole day from start to finish 11 . Social media actually assisted in the process of getting over 700 rioters 12 arrested for many different crimes, from trespassing and assault to conspiracy, but the split continued due to the clash of different ideologies. Overall, social media may not be the main cause of political polarization, but it definitely makes an impact on our party system and is increasingly becoming an issue with the rising progression and prevalence of technology and social media. Gerrymandering is another driver of political polarization. Gerrymandering is defined as the practice of drawing legislative boundaries that favors one political party in elections, according to Fred Dews, in his article, A primer on gerrymandering and political polarization 13 . Dews explains how gerrymandering originated when Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting bill that benefited his Federalist party. Ever since, gerrymandering has been 10 Masood Farivar, “Researchers: More than a Dozen Extremist Groups Took Part in Capitol Riots,” VOA (Researchers: More Than a Dozen Extremist Groups Took Part in Capitol Riots, January 17, 2021), https://www.voanews.com/a/2020-usa-votes_researchers-more-dozen-extremist-groups-took-part-capitol- riots/6200832.html. 11 Four Hours at the Capitol , HBO (HBO Films, n.d.), https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/four-hours-at-the- capitol. . 12 Nik Popli and Julia Zorthian, “Tracking January 6 Capitol Rioters' Arrests and Sentences,” Time (Time, January 6, 2022), https://time.com/6133336/jan-6-capitol-riot-arrests-sentences/. 13 Fred Dews, “A Primer on Gerrymandering and Political Polarization,” Brookings (Brookings, March 5, 2018), https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2017/07/06/a-primer-on-gerrymandering-and-political- polarization/.

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7 used to benefit politicians and legislatures during elections. Specifically, landslide counties, which are counties with an extreme party majority, are a bigger cause of polarization. Legislatures draw districts with the intent of grouping together those who share the same political beliefs, making a congressional district hold either a republican majority or democratic majority. This disrupts the legislative process by making voting more skewed during elections or voting on bills, because it’s already foreseen which way each congressional district will vote. The people also increase this issue with migration within America. Generally, people want to live around people that have the same ideals as them. This leads to people moving to areas where their party holds the majority and into neighborhoods with people like them. Gerrymandering ends up helping the legislative branch because they draw the districts in their favor. From society’s point of view, the legislative process is disrupted. The people only really focus on one point of view because it’s what they are surrounded by and what they’re used to, leading to more polarization. In their article, How Partisan Gerrymandering Limits Voting Rights, Alex Tausanovitch and Danielle Root explain how gerrymandering has affected multiple state’s voting rights, including North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The main issue stemming from this is the people not being able to elect the public officials they actually want. In North Carolina, the type of ID needed to vote was changed, making it for difficult for individuals to be able to vote. In Michigan, laws were passed that limited absentee ballots, stopped voters from being able to take a car service to vote unless they were physically unable to walk, and made it so the voter’s address on their driver’s license had to match their current home address, practically diminishing college student’s ability to vote. In Pennsylvania, a strict voter ID policy was passed, requiring a driver’s license or passport to vote. Lastly in Wisconsin, voters were required to have a driver’s license, passport, or other specified form of ID as well. In all these

8 states, these policies were passed because of gerrymandered congressional districts. The people were unable to vote for the politicians they wanted then many were prevented from even voting at all. This also ends up limiting democracy as America has known it for many years. If the people can’t vote for the officials they want, they get no say in political decisions. According to Tausanovitch and Root: “Fixing gerrymandering is a major part of undoing the democratic downward spiral in the United States and ensuring that democracy, at every level, serves the values and interests of its citizens.” 14 Overall, gerrymandering in recent years has increased polarization and done more harm than good for the people while subtly benefiting the politicians. Without gerrymandering, polarization wouldn’t be as prominent of an issue. In summary, political polarization has been an ongoing issue caused by the media, gerrymandering and redistricting, and society and legislatures. In the long run, Congress runs inefficiently, causing a lack of bills passed during session and increased time frame in which policies are created, leading to society as a whole being affected. Without change and with societal progression, political polarization will continue to get progressively worse over time. 14 Alex Tausanovitch and Danielle Root , “How Partisan Gerrymandering Limits Voting Rights - Center ...,” Advancing Racial Equity and Justice, Restoring Social Trust and Strengthening Democracy, Democracy, State and Local Policy, Voting Rights (Center for American Progress), accessed February 16, 2022, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/partisan-gerrymandering-limits-voting-rights/.

9 Bibliography Lapinski, John S. The Substance Of Representation Congress, American Political Development, And Lawmaking . Course Book. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013. pp. 61-70 Https://Doi.org/10.1515/9781400848638 . The source “The Substance of Representation Congress, American Political Development, And Law Making” discusses some causes of political polarization and the specifics of what it affects and how. It also shows empirical evidence of the history of political polarization dating back to 1877. Specifically, it shows how the House of Representatives, and the Senate are affected by political polarization. The source concludes that domestic politics are affected the most by political polarization, especially within policy issues due to preferences of Congress members. The author, Dr. John Lapinsky is currently a professor of political science at the University of

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10 Pennsylvania, along with many other titles. He has also written another book on Congress. I would consider this source credible based on the author’s credentials. I will use this source as evidence for the affects and background of political polarization. Compared to the other sources, this source offers a more historical perspective for political polarization and provides a different point of view of why political polarization is an ongoing issue for America. “Explainer: Political Polarization in the United States.” Explainers. Facing History and Ourselves. Accessed January 27, 2022. https://www.facinghistory.org/educator- resources/current- events/explainer/political-polarization-united-states. Johnson, Mike. “7 Core Principles of Conservatism.” U.S. Congressman Mike Johnson. Accessed February 16, 2022. https://mikejohnson.house.gov/7-core-principles-of- conservatism/. Paul Crider·April 1, 2017, 2021 Adam Gurri and Martin Gurri·January 28, 2021 Adam Gurri·January 8, 2019 Adam Gurri·August 28, and 2017 Paul Crider·November 27. “Principles of Liberalism.” Liberal Currents, January 8, 2021. https://www.liberalcurrents.com/liberalism-article-paul-crider/. Lapinski, John S. The Substance Of Representation Congress, American Political Development, And Lawmaking . Course Book. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013. Https://Doi.org/10.1515/9781400848638 . Hughes, Tyler, and Devon Carlson. “How Party Polarization Makes the Legislative Process Even Slower When Government Is Divided.” USAPP. LSE Phalen US Centre, May 21, 2015. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2015/05/19/how-party-polarization-makes-the-legislative- process-even-slower-when-government-is-divided/. The source “How Party Polarization Makes the Legislative Process Even Slower When Government Is Divided” explains exactly how political polarization affects the legislative process. Specifically, it acknowledges how a split bipartisanship within Congress causes law making to take longer. It also compares the rate at which policies are created when the House of Representatives and the Senate are both held by the majority party and includes distinct examples of times political polarization caused the legislative process to be slowed. The authors of this source are both assistant professors of political science at prominent universities. They both are frequent in conducting research on public policy, making this what I would consider a credible source. I will use this source to create a claim about how the increasing differences concerning ideologies is hindering Congress’ ability to be timely when it comes to policy making and affects the decisions being made.

11 Huder, Josh. “It's Congress's Fault: How Congress Polarizes America.” The Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University. Georgetown University. Accessed February 16, 2022. https://gai.georgetown.edu/its-congresss-fault-how-congress-polarizes-america/. Casad, Bettina J. “Confirmation Bias.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Accessed February 16, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/science/confirmation-bias. Barrett, Paul, Justin Hendrix, and Grant Sims. “How Tech Platforms Fuel U.S. Political Polarization and What Government Can Do about It.” Brookings. Brookings, September 24, 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/09/27/how-tech-platforms-fuel-u- s-political-polarization-and-what-government-can-do-about-it/. Farivar, Masood. “Researchers: More than a Dozen Extremist Groups Took Part in Capitol Riots.” VOA. Researchers: More Than a Dozen Extremist Groups Took Part in Capitol Riots, January 17, 2021. https://www.voanews.com/a/2020-usa-votes_researchers-more- dozen-extremist-groups-took-part-capitol-riots/6200832.html. Reed, Dan. Four Hours at The Capitol . HBO Documentary Films. United States: HBO, 2021. https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/four-hours-at-the-capitol. This source is a documentary that explains the events of January 6 th , 2021, when the capitol riot happened. During the capitol riot, protesters stormed the Capitol building because of the results of the 2020 presidential election on the day of election certification. This source gives first-hand accounts of the day from police officers, politicians, protesters and other witnesses. This source was created by HBO and because there are first-hand accounts of what happened on January 6 th , this is a credible source. I’m using this source to show the effects of polarization and specifically what a split and such extreme differences can do to society. In this case, it became deadly, injured many people, and destroyed part of our Capitol building. Popli, Nik, and Julia Zorthian. “Tracking January 6 Capitol Rioters' Arrests and Sentences.” Time. Time, January 6, 2022. https://time.com/6133336/jan-6-capitol-riot-arrests- sentences/. Dews, Fred. “A Primer on Gerrymandering and Political Polarization.” Brookings. Brookings, March 5, 2018. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2017/07/06/a-primer-on- gerrymandering-and-political-polarization/. Tausanovitch, Alex, and Danielle Root. “How Partisan Gerrymandering Limits Voting Rights - Center ...” Advancing Racial Equity and Justice, Restoring Social Trust and Strengthening Democracy, Democracy, State and Local Policy, Voting Rights. Center for American

12 Progress. Accessed February 16, 2022. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/partisan- gerrymandering-limits-voting-rights/ . Mitchell, Amy, Jeffrey Gottfried, Jocelyn Kiley, and Katerina Eva Matsa. “Section 1: Media Sources: Distinct Favorites Emerge on the Left and Right.” Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. Pew Research Center, August 28, 2020. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2014/10/21/section-1-media-sources-distinct- favorites-emerge-on-the-left-and-right/.

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