What Are Political Parties Corrupt

“I have already intimated to you the danger of parties… and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of [political parties]” (George Washington, Farewell Address). The American government is corrupt. The use of political parties is the downfall of the country. Political Parties have been present in American politics since the country was first formed. In fact, one of the two major parties in America, the Democratic Party, is the oldest party to still exist in the world. Aside from the Democratic Party, the second biggest party in America is the Republican Party. These two parties have rivaled against one another since the beginnings of America. Each was originally formed based on the arguments and beliefs of the Federalists

and Antifederalists in the 18th century. While president, George Washington warned citizens not to use political parties, and how their baneful effects would eliminate any sense of unity in the country. There has been a lot of debate among politicians over whether or not political parties are beneficial. The use of political parties in America is harming the country rather than helping it because they divide the nation, diminish compromise, and essentially disregard American morals.
Although political parties unite people with the similar, or even the same beliefs, they divide against the other half of people who have different opinions.

Using a two-party system basically divides America in half. Instead of understanding and voting for who they think is going to make the best decisions for the welfare of the country, many American citizens simply act as if their party is a sports team. They are ignorant to the issues that are going on and resolutions being proposed by each party: they simply want their party to be in power. Each party discriminates against the other, and categorizes everyone from the opposing party negatively. “Today, 92% of Republicans are to the right of the median Democrat, and 94% of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican” (people-press.org). Political polarization, or “the vast and growing gap between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats” (www.pewresearch.org), has become insane in modern times. According to people-press.org, “In each party, the share with a highly negative view of the opposing party has more than doubled since 1994. Most of these intense partisans believe the opposing party’s policies ‘are so misguided that they threaten the nation’s well-being’” (people-press.org). It is no longer about what is right or wrong, but instead, solely about “outsmarting”, or being better than the opposing party. Overall, political parties simply divide America rather than bring it together in unity, and

prevent compromise from ever being achieved.
While parties do help to support a candidate who could make a fantastic president, but who don’t have the funds to support his or her campaign, they essentially diminish compromise.

Politicians are constantly arguing about issues and decisions that need to be made. It is difficult for them to agree on things because their specific political party calls for them to believe in a certain idea, rather than allowing them to individually formulate their own opinions on what is right and wrong. In fact, because of the various disagreements between the Democratic and Republican parties, bills have begun to take a very long time to be approved and passed in Congress. This happens often because in the most recent Congress, the 113th, Republicans held the majority of seats in the House of Representatives, while Democrats held the majority in the Senate. Since proposed bills have to be approved by both the House and the Senate in order for them to be passed, with one party controlling one section of Congress, and the other party controlling the other, it is nearly impossible for both portions to come to any sense of agreement. There has been a major decline in the amount of bills passed in Congress throughout the 21st century. Only about 100 bills were passed in the 112th Congress. However, with the 111th Congress, there was close to 400 bills passed, 110th, 450 bills, and so on. The amount of bills passed by Congress has, and progressively is getting smaller and smaller, because all

politicians care about is voting for what their political party wants, instead of voting for what is right. As of January 2015, Congress is in it’s 114th session. Not only do Republicans hold the majority of Senate seats, but they also hold the majority of House seats. This is an opportunity, if possible, for even less compromise, since the Republican-dominating Congress will refuse to pass anything proposed by the Democratic President, Barack Obama. In fact, recently, the Senate has vetoed their own ideas for the sake of not getting along with Democrats. Furthermore, the Congress that served before our current Congress, the 113th, was the most polarized Congress there has ever been. The ideas and beliefs of each individual party were so incredibly divergent, that there was little to no compromise at all. Another example is “to look [at] Congressional Quarterly's ‘Party Unity’ score, which measures the number ‘in which a majority of Democrats opposed a majority of Republicans.’ In 2011… the House set a new record on that measure, with 75.8 percent of its roll call votes pitting Democrats and Republicans against each other” (Klein). Ultimately, utilizing parties in politics is diminishing any chance of compromise between the parties, especially in Congress.
While parties can help bring issues to attention that the other parties may be ignoring or neglecting, they completely disregard American morals and values. While using political parties, because candidates want to win their campaign for not only themselves, but for their party as well, many tend to be very competitive. In many cases, politicians “play dirty” and lie and/or cheat in order to be elected into office. It is common knowledge that most of the things politicians promise when running for office don’t actually happen once they are voted in. “Here are three things most Americans take as an article of faith: The sky is blue. The pope is Catholic. And politicians are liars” (cbsnews.com). Most candidates don’t tell direct lies, but they are embedded in their empty promises. Candidates lie on account of their parties because they want to seem as if their party is better and more promising than the opposing party. As a result of this, they hope that more people will vote for their party. It is very common to see candidates “play dirty” during their campaigns. A lot of the lying and manipulating done is for the benefit of not only themselves, but for their political party as well.
By using political parties, not only is there less compromise in the government, but there is a complete disregard of American morals, and an obvious division of the country. Americans should be looking for aspects in their diverse opinions that are similar, rather than pointing out others’ disparities. People shouldn’t divide because of their differences, but instead, unify because of their similarities.