Low congressional approval ratings seem to be the norm as of late.
Pundits and politicians alike are constantly decrying the current state of our federal government. The Senate does not work with the House of Representatives, and the House of Representatives does not work with the executive branch. Gridlock and petty politics are the status quo.
The blame for our national woes lies not in the halls of the Capitol. The blame lies with the people who allow gridlock and inaction in our government — us.
“We the people” are normally the first to complain about the mess in Washington.
However, we would never consider ourselves to be the problem. As the old adage goes, “When you point one finger, you have three pointing back at you.”
Capitol Hill is an easy target in the blame game. Big issues the country faces are not dealt with unless they are partisan. Budgets are not being balanced, and our economy is shaky. Politicians dance around national problems instead of solving them. It is harder to enact change than to shift the status quo.
Take a look at the voting public. Congress’ approval rating is about 15 percent, according to a recent RealClearPolitics poll. It would make sense that the voting public would elect new members to the “People’s Branch” in order to get a fresh set of eyes to solve our nation’s gripping problems.
The current incumbent retention rate for the House is 90 percent and the retention rate for the Senate is 91 percent. These numbers are unfortunate and represent a disengaged voting public.
In order for us to improve the state of our politics, we must take a look at ourselves. The voting public must be engaged and in tune with what is happening locally, nationally and internationally. We must broaden our horizons when it comes to different issues, policies and ideologies.
To do this, we have to work on a few things. First, we must be informed about the issues at hand. An uninformed constituency is exactly what career politicians want. Citizenship is not a spectator sport. When we are informed about a particular issue and strongly advocate that it gets solved, politicians will be forced to comply out of fear of losing their jobs. We have to remember that politicians work for us.
The second thing we need to do is to get out of our partisan corners. When we only care about what our side or what our person has to say, we block out another way of possibly solving a problem. Politicians with rigid and uncompromising ideologies hurt our democracy. They only appeal to a small group of people and hardly work for the common good. The “my way or the highway” train of thought does not work in a political system where compromise between the branches is the only way to accomplish anything.
Finally, we need to vote. Compared to other democratic countries, America does not fare well when it comes to voter turnout. More people voting means more views and ideologies will gain representation. Politicians will be held accountable by citizens who are engaged with the process. Though the powers that be and the special interests have the money, the people have the power of the vote.
In democracies, the power lies in the hands of the people. We must guard that power and make sure we use it to better our country on a local and national scale. If we are uninformed and disengaged, we hand that power over to organized special interests and the powers that be.
Only when the voting public realizes it is responsible for the current state of our government will Washington be fixed and functional once again.
Until then, we must embrace unresolved problems, unanswered questions, partisan politics and the sound and fury that comes from Washington.
Michael Beato is a UF economics sophomore. His column runs on Tuesdays. A version of this column ran on page 7 on 8/27/2013 under the headline "The first step in fixing Washington: Eliminate partisanship"
