Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Gov’t Shutdown Fight Exposes Deep Fractures in American Politics

Gov’t Shutdown Fight Exposes Deep Fractures in American Politics

NEW YORK - In agreeing on Monday to end a three-day U.S. government shutdown, the fourth in the past 25 years, Republicans and Democrats made some compromise to bridge the partisan divide.
However, polarization and deep fractures in American politics exposed in the display of partisan dysfunction will only get deeper as fundamentals of the bipartisan bickering have not changed at all, U.S. experts said.
"TWO ONE-PARTY NATIONS"?
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a bill Monday night to keep the government open until Feb. 8. The stopgap legislation was approved by the Congress earlier in the day after Republicans and Democrats capped off a nearly three-day deadlock over bitter dispute over immigration and border security.
"It is not anything important, just posturing," said Michael C. Munger, professor of political science at Duke University, referring to this round of Republican-Democratic standoff.
"Both sides are using it to make their 'base' feel good. It's expensive, but it's only taxpayer money, so they don't care," he told Xinhua in a written interview on Tuesday.
"It would be embarrassing, but neither party feels any responsibility for 'saving face' for the government," Munger said. "I think THAT is the reason for the polarization: the parties are detached from any sense of responsibility for governing. THAT is a real problem."
"Of course, now it turned out the 'shutdown' was very brief, really just a clown act at the political circus," he said. "I think the real problem is this: Both parties say the other party is incompetent, or evil. Voters may come to believe they are both right... I'm worried that the current system cannot survive." (Xinhua)