SENTINEL WATCH May 10, 2010 Issue

POLITICAL POLARIZATION AND THE TRUE IDEA OF GOVERNMENT

JANE LAMPMAN

IT'S DIFFICULT TO TURN ON THE NEWS without encountering vivid testimony to deep divisions in American society. From the healthcare debate to the best means to create jobs, counter terrorism, or make sure the economic crisis doesn't repeat itself, people seem intent on staking out adamant positions. Despite many who decry the polarization of political life, the voices of strident disagreement persist.

Surely, differing perspectives on the political, economic, and social issues of the day are to be expected in human experience. Democracy aims to allow those differences full expression so that the people can bring their best ideas to the discussion. But, we may ask, what has turned this messy, but constructive approach to human self-government into such a nasty scene?

The stakes are high, and not only Americans are disturbed. Columnist Tom Friedman reported that at the World Economic Forum earlier this year, global leaders were actually questioning the political stability of the United States (The New York Times, January 30, 2010). Some in the developing world were beginning to talk of a Beijing Consensus rather than a Washington Consensus, meaning that views may be shifting what is the most stable way for a country to develop rapidly. Some question whether China's autocratic approach is a better model than America's apparently bitter, cantankerous democracy.