Today, however, one of the defining features of public opinion is cynicism—deep distrust of public institutions and the belief that those who lead us are mostly selfish, greedy, dishonest, and incompetent.
…
This deeply rooted cynicism has produced three outcomes in modern American politics:
• First, sitting governments have almost no leeway with the public and invariably lose support and legitimacy outside of their core backers-regardless of whether they govern well or not.
• Second, the opposition, assuming it has its act together, is always better positioned to take advantage of cynicism in elections without having to fully articulate a coherent alternative.
• Third, these first two trends combine into an endless cycle of "empty politics." Driven by the emotional manipulation of Americans' genuine feelings and fears, this cycle leads to alternating party control of government. Thus, there are no more durable majorities or lasting policy changes in contemporary American politics as perceived failures by incumbents produce more cynicism and a
"vote them all out" attitude that fuels a new round of anger, distrust, and disengagement among voters.
Posted by CenturionSentius
2 Comments
Sub Statement:
Thought piece on cynicism as a driving force of current public opinion, concluding with an appeal to ethical leadership.
I’m not sure I buy that populism is rooted in cynicism above all else, and I have a resigned view of appealing for public virtue, but I do support its consideration as an important issue. The note that America has exceptionally low trust in government and institutions, generally, speaks to some major need to look at the problem (if far from showing a path to follow).
Wrt neoliberals, especially, though: I think this provides some justification for being aggressive about policing bad actors cloaked in left-populism, like Platner, Piker, etc. — tolerating grifters and illiberal demagogues undermines public confidence, makes the party look incompetent, and justifies cynical worst-assumptions of voters. It’s not even a super principled stand to just recognize those guys are douches, lol.
I deeply disagree with the author.
I am a cynic. But I don’t care so much about a system while I despise the average voter. I don’t think our institutions are the problem. I think we are the problem. We keep electing shitty people in the government.