Election 2020: What’s Causing Worsening Partisanship?

Photo Credit: BBC

By Adam Tufts

As Election Day 2020 approaches, anxiety and suspense festers in the hearts of millions of Americans. Naturally, this trepidation stems from different sources depending on the individual: politically informed citizens are likely concerned with the likelihood that their candidate of choice may lose the election, while undecided voters are tasked with determining which nominee deserves their vote. These high-strung emotions, paired with the conglomerate of diverse and conflicting opinions within the United States, inevitably lead to political divide.

In 2016, following the election of Donald Trump, 66% of Americans reported that they perceived the nation to be “greatly divided,” according to a Gallup poll. Four years later, as the next election nears, this number has increased, with 85% of registered voters, in response to another Gallup poll, describing America as “greatly divided.” Even journalists, whose jobs are centered around current events, experience difficulties in navigating the tense political terrain. 

“In my 40 years in Journalism, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done—cover politics at this time,” said Christine Stapleton, award-winning reporter, quoted by Nick Moschella in the Palm Beach Post. 

The “time” Stapleton alludes to is election season. Politics are inherently polarized, but elections typically widen the chasms between political adversaries. 

“Everyone wants their guy to win,” Understanding Elections teacher Stephanie McGraw said. “So much is on the line, so people really double down on what they believe during election season… Election seasons do exacerbate political polarization.” 

Social media, like election season, possesses a polarizing quality that further alienates disagreeing political factions. The effects of social media have become ingrained in society, with over half of teenagers obtaining their news solely through popular Instagram and Youtube platforms. 

“Today, with the internet it is a lot easier to be insular,” said John C. Green, former director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron. “You can disappear into your little cocoon... and never have to come across, let alone engage with, someone who has different ideas.”

Clearly, the growing popularity of social media has trapped users in echo chambers which consistently validate their views and shelter them from opposing beliefs. This inability to properly converse across ideological divides worsens political partisanship, and presently this growing divide seems to have reached a crescendo. With nationwide protests, a global pandemic, and the rapidly approaching election, the immense strain the American political sphere faces in 2020 is uniquely polarizing. 

“Dealing with the charged political climate in America is difficult,” said McGraw. “A pandemic, the recent Black Lives Matter movement, and many other recent events make some people view this election as life or death.” 

The apparent high stakes of the 2020 Election prompts American voters to double down on their fundamental values and, possibly, adopt extreme variants of their previous beliefs. In fact, the Pew Research Center reported that since 1994, Americans have tended away from centrism (to growing extents) during election seasons. This could be attributed to the efforts of politicians and public figures to underscore the seemingly monumental importance of each election. This method of exciting the voting population persists into 2020, with politicians continuing to emphasize the significance of the coming election. 

“There’s just one month left until the most important election of our lifetime,” tweeted Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in early October.

Senator Bernie Sanders, endorser of Joe Biden, echoed this assertion days later. 

“This is the most important election, in not only our lifetime but in the modern history of our country,” tweeted Senator Bernie Sanders. 

Whether the politicians and media outlets have been correct, and each election since 1994 has been the most consequential in its time or not, is irrelevant. The true crux of the matter is that political partisanship is a growing dilemma in the United States of America. Whatever the causes may be—either election season nerves, the intolerant nature of social media, or political manipulation—Americans are failing to empathize across ideological differences.