Bipartisanship
Encyclopedia
Bipartisanship is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system
such as the United States
, in which opposing political parties find common ground
through compromise. The adjective bipartisan can refer to any bill
, act
, resolution
, or other political act in which both of the two major political parties
agree about all or many parts of a political choice. Bipartisanship involves trying to find common ground, but there is debate whether the issues needing common ground are peripheral or central ones. Often, compromise
s are called bipartisan if they reconcile the desires of both parties from an original version of legislation
or other proposal. Failure to attain bipartisan support in such a system can easily lead to gridlock
, often angering each other and their constituencies. An analysis in The New York Times
in March 2010 suggested that the present state of American politics is marked by oppositional politics which has left voters cynical about the process. Bipartisanship requires "hard work", is "sometimes dull", and entails trying to find "common ground" but enables "serious problem solving", according to editorial writers at the Christian Science Monitor in 2010.
According to political analyst James Fallows
in The Atlantic, bipartisanship is a phenomenon belonging to a two-party system
such as the political system of the United States
and does not apply to a parliamentary system
such as Great Britain
, since the minority party is not involved in helping write legislation or voting for it. Fallows argues that in a two-party system, the minority party can be obstructionist and thwart the actions of the majority party. However, analyst Anne Applebaum in The Washington Post
suggested that partisanship had been rampant in the United Kingdom
and described it as "a country in which the government and the opposition glower at each other from opposite sides of the House of Commons, in which backbencher
s jeer when their opponents speak." Applebaum suggested there was bipartisanship in Britain, meaning a coalition in 2010 between the opposing major parties, but that it remained to be seen whether the coalition can stay together to solve serious problems such as tackling Britain's financial crisis.
Bipartisanship (in the context of a two-party system) is the opposite of partisanship which is characterized by a lack of cooperation between rival political parties. Framer
James Madison
argued in the Federalist Papers
that a danger to democracies were factions, which he defined as a group that pushed its interests to the detriment of the national interest. While the framers of the Constitution
did not think that political parties would play a role in American politics, political parties have long been a major force in American politics, and the nation has alternated between periods of intense party rivalry and partisanship, as well as periods of bipartisanship. According to Robert Siegel of National Public Radio, there has been virtually no cooperation between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. during the few years before 2010.
Bipartisanship can also be between two or more opposite groups (e.g. liberal and conservative) to agree and determine a plan of action on an urgent matter that is of great importance to voters. This interpretation brings bipartisanship closer to the more applied notion of postpartisan
decision-making; a solution-focused approach that creates a governance model with third-party arbiters used to detect bias
.
An analysis by Josh Nelson in the Huffington Post suggested that the sense of the term bipartisanship depended on one's political orientation. He wrote:
There have been periods of bipartisanship in American politics, such as when the Senate
Republicans supported legislation by Democratic President Johnson in the early 1960s, and when Democrats worked with Republican President Reagan
in the early 1980s. In the United States
in 2010, however, there was wide disagreement between the Republicans and Democrats because the minority party has been voting as a block against major legislation, according to James Fallows in The Atlantic. In 2010, the minority party has the ability to "discipline its ranks" so that none join the majority, and this situation in the Congress
is unprecedented, according to Fallows. He sees this inability to have bipartisanship as evidence of a "structural failure of American government." Adviser to President
Obama
, Rahm Emanuel
, said the period from 2008–2010 was marked by extreme partisanship. After the U.S. election of 2010, with sizeable gains by Republicans in the House and Senate, analyst Charles Babington of the Associated Press
suggested that both parties remained far apart on major issues such as immigration and Medicare
while there may be chances for agreement about lesser issues such as electric car
s, nuclear power
, and tax breaks for businesses; Babington was not optimistic about chances for bipartisanship on major issues in the next few years. While analyst Benedict Carey writing in The New York Times
agrees political analysts tend to agree that government will continue to be divided and marked by paralysis and feuding, there was research suggesting that humans have a "profound capacity through which vicious adversaries can form alliances," according to Berkeley
professor Dacher Keltner.
A call for bipartisanship is often made by presidents who "can't get their way in Congress," according to one view.
Bipartisanship has been criticized because it can obscure the differences between parties, making voting for candidates based on policies difficult in a democracy. Additionally, the concept of bipartisanship has been criticized as discouraging agreements between more than two parties, thus exercising a tyranny of the majority by forcing voters to side with one of the two largest parties.
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...
such as the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in which opposing political parties find common ground
Common Ground
Common Ground may refer to:* Common ground * Grounding in communication * The commons, publicly owned areas, especially those for meeting* Common land, ground where the public have traditional rights, such as grazing...
through compromise. The adjective bipartisan can refer to any bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
, act
Act of Congress
An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....
, resolution
Resolution (law)
A resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be...
, or other political act in which both of the two major political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
agree about all or many parts of a political choice. Bipartisanship involves trying to find common ground, but there is debate whether the issues needing common ground are peripheral or central ones. Often, compromise
Compromise
To compromise is to make a deal where one person gives up part of his or her demand.In arguments, compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving variations from an original goal or desire.Extremism is often considered as...
s are called bipartisan if they reconcile the desires of both parties from an original version of legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
or other proposal. Failure to attain bipartisan support in such a system can easily lead to gridlock
Gridlock (politics)
In politics, gridlock refers to the difficulty of passing laws fulfilling a party's political agenda in a legislature that is nearly evenly divided, or in which two legislative houses, or the executive branch and the legislature are controlled by different political parties...
, often angering each other and their constituencies. An analysis in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in March 2010 suggested that the present state of American politics is marked by oppositional politics which has left voters cynical about the process. Bipartisanship requires "hard work", is "sometimes dull", and entails trying to find "common ground" but enables "serious problem solving", according to editorial writers at the Christian Science Monitor in 2010.
According to political analyst James Fallows
James Fallows
James Fallows is an American print and radio journalist. He has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly for many years. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and The American Prospect, among others. He is a...
in The Atlantic, bipartisanship is a phenomenon belonging to a two-party system
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...
such as the political system of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and does not apply to a parliamentary system
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
such as Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, since the minority party is not involved in helping write legislation or voting for it. Fallows argues that in a two-party system, the minority party can be obstructionist and thwart the actions of the majority party. However, analyst Anne Applebaum in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
suggested that partisanship had been rampant in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and described it as "a country in which the government and the opposition glower at each other from opposite sides of the House of Commons, in which backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
s jeer when their opponents speak." Applebaum suggested there was bipartisanship in Britain, meaning a coalition in 2010 between the opposing major parties, but that it remained to be seen whether the coalition can stay together to solve serious problems such as tackling Britain's financial crisis.
Bipartisanship (in the context of a two-party system) is the opposite of partisanship which is characterized by a lack of cooperation between rival political parties. Framer
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
argued in the Federalist Papers
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788...
that a danger to democracies were factions, which he defined as a group that pushed its interests to the detriment of the national interest. While the framers of the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
did not think that political parties would play a role in American politics, political parties have long been a major force in American politics, and the nation has alternated between periods of intense party rivalry and partisanship, as well as periods of bipartisanship. According to Robert Siegel of National Public Radio, there has been virtually no cooperation between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. during the few years before 2010.
Bipartisanship can also be between two or more opposite groups (e.g. liberal and conservative) to agree and determine a plan of action on an urgent matter that is of great importance to voters. This interpretation brings bipartisanship closer to the more applied notion of postpartisan
Postpartisan
Post-partisanship is an approach to dispute resolution between political factions that emphasizes compromise and collaboration over political ideology and party discipline. It does not imply neutrality. From 2000-2007, there were virtually no online media references to the term "post-partisan"...
decision-making; a solution-focused approach that creates a governance model with third-party arbiters used to detect bias
Bias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
.
An analysis by Josh Nelson in the Huffington Post suggested that the sense of the term bipartisanship depended on one's political orientation. He wrote:
There have been periods of bipartisanship in American politics, such as when the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Republicans supported legislation by Democratic President Johnson in the early 1960s, and when Democrats worked with Republican President Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in the early 1980s. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 2010, however, there was wide disagreement between the Republicans and Democrats because the minority party has been voting as a block against major legislation, according to James Fallows in The Atlantic. In 2010, the minority party has the ability to "discipline its ranks" so that none join the majority, and this situation in the Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
is unprecedented, according to Fallows. He sees this inability to have bipartisanship as evidence of a "structural failure of American government." Adviser to President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago. He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama...
, said the period from 2008–2010 was marked by extreme partisanship. After the U.S. election of 2010, with sizeable gains by Republicans in the House and Senate, analyst Charles Babington of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
suggested that both parties remained far apart on major issues such as immigration and Medicare
Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...
while there may be chances for agreement about lesser issues such as electric car
Electric car
An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...
s, nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, and tax breaks for businesses; Babington was not optimistic about chances for bipartisanship on major issues in the next few years. While analyst Benedict Carey writing in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
agrees political analysts tend to agree that government will continue to be divided and marked by paralysis and feuding, there was research suggesting that humans have a "profound capacity through which vicious adversaries can form alliances," according to Berkeley
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
professor Dacher Keltner.
A call for bipartisanship is often made by presidents who "can't get their way in Congress," according to one view.
Bipartisanship has been criticized because it can obscure the differences between parties, making voting for candidates based on policies difficult in a democracy. Additionally, the concept of bipartisanship has been criticized as discouraging agreements between more than two parties, thus exercising a tyranny of the majority by forcing voters to side with one of the two largest parties.