Question

Congressional approval ratings have never been lower than they are now. Public confidence in the ability of Congress to solve important problems has waned. Discuss the reasons why politicians appear at loggerheads with one another, why solutions to substantive issues are either not addressed or given short-term solutions, and what some potential remedies might be.

Answer 1

It has been a common practice in almost every country that the politicians do not agree with each other on many issues that look quite obvious from outside. Despite the obvious benefits and advantages that the country or the people of the nation can gain from these policies, the political rivals always oppose these types of acts and laws or initiatives of the government. The prime factor is that the other parties do not want the party in the power to take advantage of rolling some initiatives that can benefit them in the election. The typical example can be seen in the form of the 2011 debt ceiling crisis or the current discussion on the social security program reforms.

The other reason can be seen as some of the political parties are myopic in their approach and they do not want to look ahead in the future and they want to gain the immediate or momentary gains by opposing many bills and laws. Some of the politicians may have a very small constituency whose interests could be affected by the proposed change and thus they decide to oppose these reforms or initiatives.

On the other hand, there are some policies or reforms that may not be beneficial at present but in long term, it can result in social benefits such as increasing the tax rates so the parties do not want to take the risk of changing any law that can harm the interest of the public at present so that pass the buck on the other party or delay the laws.

In order to overcome all the situations, the possible solution is to have greater awareness among the people about what is beneficial in the long term. This can be done by mounting the pressure on the political parties through social campaigns, increased political awareness among the masses. Apart from this, the public can also initiate the change in the political system or  administrative policies and implement the institutional change