The Role of Anger in American Democracy

Introduction

American democracy has been affected by various issues since time immemorial. During the 2020 US Presidential Election verification, an angry mob attacked the US Capitol (Li et al., 2022). The incident happened on the eve of admitting Trump’s defeat by President Biden (Li et al., 2022). The January 6^th incident saw vandalizing of properties at the place where the harmed people targeted Congress more than Vice President Mike Pence. Pence had failed to succumb to attempts by Trump to overturn the election in his favor. One police officer and four civilians were mortally wounded during the riot (Li et al., 2022). The US democracy then was trial because of incitement and breach of law.

There were concerns over how the rioters could penetrate Capitol security details. The place had more than 1400 police officers on duty at that time (Li et al., 2022). The holistic view of that event is anger that reduced Americans’ trust in governing institutions since it weakened the commitment to democratic norms. Anger has reduced Americans’ trust in their governing institutions and weakened the citizenry’s commitment to democratic norms and values. That means there is a rise to extraordinarily high levels of voter loyalty at multiple electoral levels, which limits democracy.

Literature Review

The literature review section uses three sources to discuss political anger on American democracy. According to Webster (2021), there has been an increasingly angry electorate which implies an adverse impact from political tension. The author has applied various theories to show how American democracy is affected by anger. Political candidates increase anger when the elections are almost underway or over what leads to a distorted government. The reason is that a party in power can regulate any political tension by playing safe in terms of utterances, courses of action, or plans for people not in the same political realm as them.

American democracy can be understood from wide array of concepts. Uncivil Agreement, a book by Mason (2018) shows how political thoughts have become an identity in US society. The work uses a theory known as political polarization, whereby the conflict between people has gone beyond disagreements about a certain policy. This essay has also consulted Hinck (2022) to draw the article’s views on American hypocrisy in ending exceptionalism. Many countries take the US as a role model for power transitioning. However, the country has fallen prey to political illiberalism, which has led to challenges in achieving democracy.

Methods

This essay uses secondary and primary data analysis regarding American democracy. There are three sources consulted, as shown above. The sources’ data will be useful in reflecting on why the Jan 6^th event occurred. That means the occasion will be understood from political points of view and help the reader navigate why the US has had issues with democracy due to political stands (Ho, 2021). The analysis method is related to the literature used above since the contextual findings on the topic will be based on what the sources explain on the theme.

Analysis

Partisan loyalty

Partisan loyalty is a theoretical perspective evident in the Jan 6^th attack. In the book American Rage: How Anger Shapes Our Politics, Webster (2021) discusses partisan loyalty, distrust of government, and commitment to democratic norms, which are theoretical subjects that help the audience understand rage has influenced American polls based on the January 6^th event. Regarding partisan loyalty, the book argues that politicians can spark a heated debate on particular issues from what they say or post on media. For instance, Trump was known for his numerous tweets, some of which would give room for an outburst from the Republicans. The anger-inducing rhetoric, as the author refers, leads to antagonism as partisan groups spend time and resources opposing a certain matter that is politically driven.

Government Distrust

Many people may be unable to withstand the government’s agenda in this democracy. Webster (2021 p. 33) argues that “Anger is the central emotion governing contemporary US politics, with powerful, deleterious effects. Tracing the developments that have given rise to a culture of anger in the mass public, the book sheds new light on both public opinion and voting behavior.” That means people have frequently lost trust in how government operates because of the leadership roles played by politicians, increasing the aspect of rage from their daily life. From what the book says, it is possible to understand the theory of distrust of government because the January 6^th event was surrounded by numerous occasions, which shows agents engaging in sensitive activities. The Justice Department showed call logs between executive officials on the afternoon of the attack and the time it was ongoing. Additionally, a secret briefing happened a day earlier showing security officials who planned demonstrations. Therefore, the theory of government distrust can be seen from the above perspectives.

Political polarization

The US has many matters polarized by political divisions where each people holds a different stand concerning a subject. Mason (2018) says that members of the two parties in the US have held different opinions on every matter raised by either side concerning the well-being of the community. According to the insights in the book, the January 6^th event at the US Capitol shows that increased political engagement raised the understanding of contemporary issues to a self-centered opinion. The pro-Trump groups held the idea that the elections were not free and fair and that manipulated polls had given the Democrats an undeserved win. There were many fake electoral slates that Trump supporters made across seven states, including a desperate bid for him to cling to the most powerful office during his last days in office. The matter shows that politically driven actions result in chaos, which is why politics of anger have been rampant.

American Exceptionalism

The other theoretical point on exceptionalism is evident from Hinck’s work. The author says that the US has been among the countries where smooth transitioning of power is witnessed. However, there is an aspect that Hinck (2022) says has led to hypocrisy in ending illiberality in voters’ minds. The author says that “US and foreign audiences have become accustomed to watching anti-government protests in illiberal states or underdeveloped democracies, the scenes of thousands of protestors storming the US Capitol has opened the United States itself for critique from the very nations” (Hinck, 2022 p. 2). That means the country’s political uniformity is at dire straits based on the incidence. The Republicans and Democrats have created a protest paradigm on almost every matter experienced in humanity. Communication, security, economies of scale, equality, and transparency are some issues in contention. As noted, the American voters had controversial issues with how the 2020 polls were conducted (Webster, 2021). Thus, reading the article helps builds an understanding of how the US has been affected by the politics of anger.

Conclusion

Politics of anger have reduced trust in government and weakened citizens’ democratic norms and culture due to high levels of political affiliation. That is evident in the Jan 6^ththe attack, where an angry mob stormed the US Capitol, leading to five people killing. The politicians have contributed to the rage due to their ideologies expressed through the media. As a result, many followers tend to disagree with the opponents, raising political tensions. Many of the events are done based on Republican and Democratic political affiliations. As a result, US democratic stand has been seen as hypocritical due to increased exceptionalism narratives.

References

Hinck, R. S. (2022). US hypocrisy and the end of American exceptionalism? Narratives of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol from Illiberal National Media. American Behavioral Scientist, 3(4), 000276422210963. Web.

Ho, T. M. (2021). Violence is the end of a trump presidency full of Lies: Thoughts on the post- Jan 6th discourse, 5(3), 1–4. Web.

Li, Q., King, B., & Uzzi, B. (2022). Quantifying the leadership and social media predictors of violence and racism during the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Advanced Democracy, 3(5), 12–33. Web.

Mason, L. (2018). Uncivil Agreement: How politics became our identity. The University of Chicago Press.

Webster, S. W. (2021). American rage: How anger shapes our politics. Cambridge University Press.