Introduction
The American constitution establishes a government in the form of a democratic republic. The fundamental features of the political system include respect for human rights and dignity, multi-party politics, and a free and fair voting system. The freedom of association, expression, and being elected gives all Americans the right to participate in politics actively, change the state of affairs, and improve people’s quality of life. American society is dynamic, and people believe in numerous ideologies in their pursuit of happiness. Political intolerance caused by bias will likely ignite wars and eliminate peace and harmony in the region. A tolerant leader with the flexibility of mind, diverse perspectives, and the capacity to collaborate will likely succeed and restore peace in a political democracy. American politics can be streamlined when educated, and unbiased people are in the political realm and make decisions for the good of all. Politicians must be educated and unbiased because they lead people with different perspectives on issues affecting them and prejudiced decisions may lead to political unrest and revolutions.
Features of the American Political System
The American political system comprises two parties with conflicting ideologies meant to serve the same population. The Republican and Democratic parties front their conservative and liberal ideologies, respectively. Democratic Party believes in individual rights, consent, liberty, and political equality before the law. The republican ideologies are based on the moral philosophy of natural law, hierarchy, tradition, and the transcended natural order (Barber & Pope, 2019). As a result of the differing ideologies, the parties typically take different viewpoints on issues affecting Americans. For example, the political divides understood the debate on gun control and background checks differently. Ideological differences constantly jeopardize essential bills, and the delays in passing laws affect Americans. If uneducated and biased people join the political class, situations will likely worsen, and service delivery in the form of law ratification will be threatened (Bavel, 2020). Some of the essential features of the American politics which require politicians to be unbiased include partisanship, partisan polarization, and biased political identity. Research by Brennan & Jaworski, (2016) underscored the importance of voter education for the election of better leaders. When the electorate lack knowledge, the voting system stop serving the needs of the people but works for the few elites who control the electorates.
Partisanship
Partisanship is bias and prejudice, which makes a person favor a particular cause of action. It is a natural phenomenon that makes people naturally inclined to a particular group. Research by Bravel (2020) proved that over 40% of Americans suffer bias after similar mathematical tests yielded different results. Two identical problems involving health and political ideologies were set using similar parameters and requiring same formula. The first calculation was to determine correlation between skin rushes and medicated cream while the second evaluated relationship between gun control policy and homicide cases (Bavel, 2020).. Almost all the participants got a correct mark on the first question. However, over 40% got the wrong answer because of their biased political affiliation (Bavel, 2020). The research proved that politics made people irrational and affected their decision-making ability (Coleman, 2010). A partisan politician will likely make wrong policies aligned to the political party even if the policies are unsuitable for the general public. Partisanship in politics can only be eradicated when people are more educated and less biased to make rational choices.
Partisan Polarization
Partisan polarization is the growing gap between the different ideologies in a political class. For example, when the democrats disagree with the republicans on fundamental issues such as legalizing abortion, people may be left in cognitive dissonance hence stagnation. Partisan polarization is one of the critical causes of stress, anxiety, and mental health issues in the US, affecting the quality of life (Bavel, 2020). As a result of the polarization, core democratic principles are weakened, and the functioning of the congress and judiciary is affected. The antidote to the situation is to have educated, less biased politicians streamline the law-making process by eliminating bias.
Biased Political Identity
Political identity is a collective way in which a group of people sees themselves in the state of affairs in the country. A person inclined to Democratic Party is likely to support motions raised by the party whether they are helpful to the public or not. When a person has a biased identity, it becomes impossible to see points in the arguments raised by the different political divides. A biased political identity is a prerequisite for chaos, requiring education and unbiasedness to be eliminated (Barber & Pope, 2019). When people entering politics are as biased, they are less likely to remedy the situation. Instead, it will jeopardize the relationship and set the pace for conflict. It only takes education and less bias to make evidence-based decisions on issues affecting Americans.
Importance of Education in Politics
Education is an essential governance tool, allowing people to think beyond their biases. It is imperative to note that people are more biased than they think and are prone to make biased decisions unless they rethink their motives. Besides helping eliminate bias, education helps people be flexible and reason before making a decision (Coleman, 2010). Further education allows a person to understand different perspectives before making a decision and offers the capacity for collaboration. Research by Andes et al., (2020) inferred that educated people are more likely to make rational decisions on political matters. Education is therefore key to eliminate bias and ensuring that people view issues from different perspectives before making a decision.
The flexibility of the Mind
Partisan politics in America often hinder people from thinking independently. When faced with a challenging situation, people tend to think alongside their group norms for the solution. However, education gives a person the cognitive ability to adapt and be willing to change thought patterns to understand a particular stand better (Ford, 2022). Educated people are most likely to be flexible and do adequate research on the issue before contributing. Such flexibility makes people improve politics and make parties more productive.
Multiplicity of Perspective
The diversity of perspective is a person’s ability to view a particular concept from different perspectives. For example, when debating gun control, a person must analyze the second amendment and the security status before deciding (Barber & Pope, 2019). Educated lawmakers are more resourceful when debating in congress because they have a diverse understanding of the issue and offer an effective solution. Understanding the different perspectives may lead to a revolt. Since education increases people’s viewpoints on different perspectives, they will likely lead better in the discourse.
Capacity to Collaborate
Collaboration is critical in contemporary politics as people complement each other to formulate better policies. Uneducated and biased people have a fixed mentality on the state of affairs and may need help understanding the importance of a point raised by the other political party. It takes education and unbiasedness to appreciate other people/ideologies and collaborate with them for practical outcomes (Ford, 2022). Americans must therefore be more educated before joining politics to ensure that they collaborate effectively with others for success.
Counterargument
Education is an essential aspect of making people understand perspectives. However, it takes a personal choice to be neutral and choose a side that supports the good of all people. There are educated people who are more biased than those without education. Leadership skills are independent of education, as previous leaders without education were as effective. It is, therefore, imperative to note that making education and unbiasedness the threshold for joining American politics may hinder talented individuals from participating in leadership and the day-to-day running of the country (Barber & Pope, 2019). Although inborn leadership features exist, attaining a primary education is critical to enhancing and practicing the skills. Further, although it takes a personal choice to be unbiased, having a primary education is an initial step towards attaining success and improving political leadership outcomes.
Conclusion
Populist ideologies lead democratic nations in the form of a constitution. America is an example of a constitutional democracy that conducts elections every four years. Every American has a right to belong to a political party and seek an election into office. Political bias is a fundamental problem that jeopardizes the country’s leadership, affecting people’s reasoning capacity. Bias is the cause of partisan polarization, which affect people both emotionally and mentally. Education is regarded as the antidote because it instills individuals with the ability to view things from multiple perspectives, has a flexible mind, and form collaborations for effective feedback. Political tolerance can only be achieved when people view issues differently and use logic. Since bias causes irrational decisions, the solution of the American political system is to have people more educated and less biased before they join the political class.
References
Barber, M., & Pope, J. C. (2019). Does party trump ideology? Disentangling party and ideology in America. American Political Science Review, 113(1), 38-54. Web.
Andes, S., Kiesa, A., Junco, R., & Medina, A. (2020). Youth who learned about voting in high school more likely to become informed and engaged voters. Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Web.
Coleman, L., (2010). Liz Coleman’s call to reinvent liberal arts education [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Brennan, J., & Jaworski, P. (2016). The right to vote should be restricted to those with knowledge. Aeon. Web.
Bavel, J. V. (2020). Do politics make us irrational? [Video]. TED Conferences. Web.
Ford, R. T., (2022). A tailored history of who wears what — and why [Video]. TED Conferences. Web.