Trump’s Cult

Despite what the media, statistics, and pundits say, Trump won the popular vote, as well as the electoral college. The negligible three million vote shortfall came from the votes of illegal immigrants who were able to vote in states with notoriously loose voter registration laws, such as California and New York. This claim, rated “Pants on Fire” by Politifact, remains remarkably pervasive. About 30 percent of Americans, mostly supporters of the president, believe this myth, which was originally created by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Those who oppose the president are bewildered by his supporters’ systemic denial of facts contrary to their position. Some have even compared his base to a “cult following,” utterly devoted to their leader.

In any case, the existence of such a cult is subjective: if you were a “member,” you would certainly deny that your cult existed. According to organizations such as CNN and NBC, Trump routinely tells dozens of lies that his supporters believe. However, Trump and his supporters denounce these sources as fake news, claiming that their goal is to destroy Trump and enrich themselves rather than to objectively report news stories.

Depressingly, it matters little whether these media sources are beacons of liberty or full-time liberal propaganda machines. Either way, the gulf between both sides in recognizing basic facts seems nearly insurmountable. Trump’s cult could not exist without a deep-rooted and pervasive partisanship in American politics.

Partisanship in relation to politics is defined as firm adherence to a person or party. Partisanship has always existed in most democratic societies like America because it is rooted in human nature. Groupthink, a practice by which people in a group strive to reach a consensus and relegate individual thought to a secondary role, can change people’s opinions over time and make them hesitant to reject falsehoods. Additionally, factors like confirmation bias, the tendency to prioritize information that backs up your viewpoint and ignore the rest, have always existed and affect people on both sides of any issue.

But while partisanship has always existed, recent technological and geopolitical trends have brought it to a level that has not been seen since the American Civil War. In particular, a variety of news and social media platforms allow people to only see information they want to see. According to a study conducted by a team of researchers in 2016, sites like Facebook can propagate false or misleading information because users are more likely to share and promote articles that conform to their viewpoints. This feeds into their confirmation bias and can lead to the creation of online “echo chambers,” where people primarily communicate with other people with similar viewpoints. In addition, people are becoming more geographically isolated: Democrats tend to be concentrated in urban regions, whereas Republicans mostly live in rural areas.

There are a few ways to reduce partisanship in politics. One method is to reduce partisan gerrymandering, whereby politicians draw electoral maps that distribute votes to favor their party. This method has been used by both parties in order to to gain more seats in legislatures. Because of a natural advantage in terms of rural voters and control of state legislatures, Republicans have made big gains in Capitol Hill through gerrymandering. For example, in Pennsylvania's 2012 Congressional elections, Democrats slightly edged out Republicans, winning 50.28 percent of the vote. However, the Democratic Party only received five out of 18 Congressional seats. Just this week, the Supreme Court ordered Pennsylvania to move forward with a redistricting process. Through the use of nonpartisan redistricting committees, we can ensure that voters pick their representatives, not the other way around.

Another promising solution would be the introduction of a “top two” primary system. In the current system, voters can only vote in their party’s primary election, which creates candidates that are more radical and less likely to vote across party lines if elected. In this system, all voters, regardless of party affiliation, would be allowed to vote in one primary, and the two candidates with the most votes would advance to the general election. This would encourage more moderate candidates to better reflect their constituencies as a whole.

Critics note downsides to this plan, which include shutting out third party candidates, reducing the ability of party voters to pick their own candidates, and the possibility that candidates will become too moderate, lacking differences in anything but character. However, these concerns are unfounded because there are currently no third party representatives in Congress or the Senate, and top two primaries might actually increase third party representation by making such candidates serious competitors if they were to make it onto the ballot.

The top two system would also allow independent voters who feel disenfranchised by the primary system to have a voice in deciding who can advance to the general election. In areas historically dominated by one party or another, it could make races that would’ve been virtually decided by the primary more competitive. For example, California Republicans would have had almost no influence in Senate races because the state is predominantly Democratic, so whoever won the Democratic primary would be guaranteed to be elected. But under the top two system implemented in 2010, Republicans have had a say in the elections and a moderating influence on Democratic candidates.

As much as the 2016 Presidential election inflamed partisan tensions, Trump is far from the root of partisan politics in America. His cult following, whether it exists or not, is indicative not of Trump’s exceptional character, but of the partisan nature of politics in America. Trump will eventually leave office. When he inevitably does, we will be left with the same broken system we have now. As the birthplace of modern democracy, America has long been the leader of the free world. As a nation that seeks to lead the free world, America must first learn to govern itself and preserve the integrity of its democracy.

INFOGRAPHIC: Gerrymandering is the practice of dividing states into partisan electoral districts in order to benefit a specific party or candidate. This is often done through grouping opposition voters into the same district while spreading out friendly voters such that they hold a narrow majority in as many districts as possible. Notice how this is done in the map below: