Us vs Them: American Partisanship is Triggering an Ideological Civil War
Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego outside of Mike Johnson’s Office. Source: Yahoo News.
It is no secret that in recent decades, America has seen an intense shift toward extreme polarization in the bipartisan government, a system dependent on America’s two major political parties collaborating. Increased loyalty towards one’s party has led to extreme conflict and social divisions between Americans who support opposing political parties. With polarization becoming more prominent in American politics, Americans are continuing to receive more partisan media rather than unbiased, fact-based reporting, drawing citizens to simply oppose the other side for its own sake and shifting focus from debates on real, substantive issues. Moreover, party loyalties in America have triggered a society centered around affirmative polarization. Under this principle, conflict between parties is more dependent on hating the other side than liking members of a person's own political party.
Bipartisan collaboration is essential to American democracy, as each party’s collaboration within each branch and level of government allows for productive governance and policymaking. With an attempt to represent a multitude of values in the nation's population, it is incredibly important that those with different views come to mutual terms to efficiently create policy. Growing polarization in a government that relies on cooperation and dependability hinders the procedure and operation if the two parties refuse to agree. For example, a primary task of the bicameral legislature is to write and pass the federal budget; however, this compromise is presently failing, thus forcing a government shutdown. A shutdown can occur when Congress cannot pass a budget for the fiscal year, as shown in shutdowns like those in 1980, 2017, and this October.
In terms of consequences of these shutdowns, not only do they halter government function but they impact the lives of around 1.9 million federal workers, forcing them to work without pay or a discharge from their jobs. Rather than coming to an agreement on a budget, or even extending the current budget with a continuing resolution, Congress plunges America into a period during which government jobs not deemed necessary are forced to shut down and stop receiving funding.
This current shutdown can be attributed mostly to extreme partisanship, due to a substantive policy disagreement between Democrats and Republicans, as neither party is willing to compromise with what they see as the opposing side. Affirmative polarization’s demonizing of the other side not only blocks effective cooperation but has gone as far as to prevent discussion, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune refused to hold talks prior to the shutdown, in order to have Democrats conform to the current budget first. The ongoing shutdown began when Republican members of the House of Representatives passed their budget, ignoring subsidies for health insurance, despite their nearing expiration. While this budget passed through the House with just Republican support, Democratic senators are blocking the bill's passage in the Senate. Due to the manner in which the Senate is currently divided, a united Republican caucus and seven Democratic Senators would have to approve this budget for it to meet the high 60-vote threshold required for passage. However, Democrats are insisting that this funding for health insurance is negotiated now, rather than waiting for the current subsidies to expire at the end of 2025. The inability for Senators to even hold lively debates or conversations as one of the primary chambers of the United States legislation is extremely concerning, as party loyalty has gotten to the point where hundreds of thousands of federal workers find it worth it to avoid compromising with the other side.
Despite the extreme impact of the 2025 government shutdown, other implications of America’s extreme polarization are becoming more prominent. Currently, Adelita Grijalva is facing the consequences of this extreme partisanship as she is not being sworn into her position by Republican lawmakers. Despite winning a special election in late September, she has yet to be sworn into her position, causing an angry confrontation outside of Speaker Mike Johnson’s office. Those who approached the speaker, Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, attribute this to some kind of political strategy, either to push off the release of the Epstein files or simply coerce Democrats to give into signing the budget and take the government out of this shutdown.
Regarding the Epstein Files, these files are said to contain the names of those who acted alongside Jeffrey Epstein in his exploitation of minors. For years, it has been speculated that prominent social and political figures are found in these files, therefore limiting their full release. Further, as of July 2025, it has been rumored that Donald Trump is aware of his name having been featured multiple times, making these files even more of a political issue following his re-election. Decreased interest by Republicans in these files has demonstrated the blind loyalty people currently feel toward their political parties, as this loyalty has caused Americans to desert individual desires for the good of their party in the media. Donald Trump’s push against the release of the Epstein Files has left Republicans now arguing to leave it to the administration to address them. Attempts to shut down these rumors by both followers and colleagues of Donald Trump are seemingly failing, as some Republicans continue to vote against the release of these files, making the public more and more suspicious of his involvement.
As of recent decades, a government shutdown is not a new or foreign concept to many Americans. However, in prior years, there was not generally a one-party trifecta in the government, outside of a couple of days in the 2018-19 partial shutdown. Previously, the lack of extreme partisan dominance within the chambers of Congress allowed for some compromise to arise in a shorter period of time, as a party is dependent on numerous votes from the opposing party to pass a law in the instance that the party's split is more even. However, the Republican Party currently possesses control over both chambers of Congress, decreasing the need for negotiation in the chambers, as only a few votes from the other side are needed. Polarization between political parties is at an all-time high, despite whether this is to be attributed to a heavily media-dependent President or these political issues becoming more personal. Although standing on principle can be productive in forcing some sort of change, in a government that thrives through negotiation, it is ineffective and polarizing when done in the position of a federal policymaker. In serving as a member of Congress or the federal government as a whole, a person is meant to be representative of a multitude of citizens, to implement policy that will be beneficial to as many Americans as possible. Despite extreme partisanship occurring in the media and federal government, citizens themselves are more moderate than the manner in which their representatives are acting, therefore channeling more extreme legislation that may not be as desired by the American people as it should be.
Possession of core beliefs is incredibly important in the American political process; however, in the important position Congressmen hold, acting as the voice of citizens, standing on principle prohibits collaboration in government and therefore true representation of citizens. Refusal to agree with ‘the enemy party’ limits much hope for a solution to arise anytime soon in this particular shutdown, hopefully prompting members of Congress to prioritize cooperation over anything. Therefore, Americans should continue to encourage a government built on compromise rather than prioritizing parties over true opinion, to allow everyone’s voice to be heard.