The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics

Though the Founding Fathers believed in the need for a truly national government, they
went to tremendous lengths to create a system that its inhabitants could not take advantage of.
What the government could do for its people was restricted to the duties of the "watchman
state," as they have come to be known. Founders created a constitutional litany that is well-
known to all schoolchildren due to this. The Founders' insistence on limiting government is
logical in light of the historical record they confronted (Fiorina, 25). History reveals that there
has been an increase in the need for the government to act positively during the last two
centuries. Due to advances that the Founders did not anticipate, individuals and organizations
acting without coordination are more likely to do great harm to our country.

Well-established political parties may inspire their members, adherents, and the general
public to take on more of a sense of communal responsibility. American politics have been
defined in two ways by powerful political parties. Whenever the government is united, as it was
when the party mattered more than it does now, these systems make it easier for people to
determine who is responsible for what. The second method powerful parties explain American
politics stems from the first. In the United States, political party organization has typically meant
state and local party organization. Historically, the national party has been a loose confederation
of subnational entities every four years to form a unified force. Several long-term phenomena
have contributed to the demise of traditional political parties (Fiorina, 28). Since the Civil
Service Act of 1883, the patronage system has been gradually reduced.

The government now performs social-welfare duties that political parties had previously
performed. Only presidential candidates are eligible for public funding at this point. Other
national contests are affected by a succession of new campaign donations and spending
regulations. Data on congressional campaign finance before the new legislation was notoriously
unreliable, but examine some of the tendencies that have developed in the short period the law

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has been effective. Political action committees have stepped up to fill the void left by decreasing
party spending in House contests. Politicians, commentators, and even some members of
Congress have expressed concern about the emergence of single-issue organizations in
American politics in recent years. Some even argue that the current immobility in our politics is
a direct result of this trend. However, a little thinking should indicate that the two developments
are linked.

To keep particularistic forces in check, a powerful party in charge of running the
government of a nation-state has to be held responsible for its actions. It has complete control
over nominations, elections, and schedules and knows that minorities are minorities no matter
how passionate they may be. Parties lose control of their nominations and campaigns when their
popularity dwindles; people no longer have faith in them and no longer influence the agenda.
However, individual officeholders are no longer subjected to the same standard of accountability
as their political party as a whole(Fiorina, 29). The loss of the political party allows interest
groups to have more influence. Their success spurs the establishment of even more interest
groups, politics become further fragmented, and collective responsibility becomes even more
elusive.

The article concludes that democracy does not lend itself to exact definition, which is
confirmed by multiple nonidentical formulations of the idea. To most people, democracy
encompasses a variety of desirable features, but there is no reason to suppose that all of these
desirable qualities are mutually exclusive. Accepting mediocre levels of one trait may be
necessary to maximize the achievement. In recent American political philosophy, the importance
of governance for and by the people has been highlighted. To ensure that everyone's views are
listened to and acted upon in some way—whether directly or via accurate
representation—efforts have been undertaken. Citizen involvement is the ruling value, and
arrangements that enable universal participation are highly sought.

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References

Fiorina, M. P. (1980). The decline of collective responsibility in American politics. Daedalus,
25-45.