Policymakers in Washington, D.C., increasingly are earning the distrust of the American people, and the current impasse that led to a government shutdown is no exception, according to , a political science professor and author of two books on trust and polarization in American government.
A third book with the working title Why Washington Won鈥檛 Work is near completion with co-author Thomas J. Rudolph of the University of Illinois.
鈥淭he only problem is that Congress keeps doing increasingly outrageous things, which requires us to continually rewrite chapter one with the most recent and shocking account,鈥� says Hetherington. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how many times I鈥檝e redone the opening anecdotes to the book.鈥�
While government was once seen as a set of institutions designed to solve entrenched problems, it no longer becomes a viable option when it loses the trust of the people.
鈥淐ongress isn鈥檛 doing anything to cause people to feel good about what they鈥檙e doing,鈥� he says. Widening polarization between the left and the right means public consensus never develops behind issues. 鈥淲hat we end up with is terrible gridlock.鈥�
The increasingly 鈥渕ean鈥� environment in Washington differs from a generation ago when opposing party members often were friends. 鈥淸rquote]If you start to see the other side as less than human, then you don鈥檛 make compromises with them,鈥� Hetherington says.[/rquote] A second problem is that members of Congress spend a majority of their time in their districts running for re-election instead of working through problems with colleagues in Washington.
鈥淎s someone who tries to teach young people about the virtues of public service,鈥� he adds, 鈥渋t is very discouraging.鈥�
Hetherington is available for media interviews about the government impasse. He is the author of two books about the American electorate, (Princeton University Press, 2005) and (Cambridge University Press, 2009).