The power of “independents”

In American politics, our partisan divides are rivaled only by our insistence on a mythological, common “American-ness,” constituted by appeals to the Founders/Framers (capital “F” mandatory), to freedom/liberty, and to our rugged, independent nature.  Even though the vast majority of Americans identify with one of the two major political parties, most of us like to think of ourselves as “independent,” as it gives us an air of objectivity, astute skepticism, and non-ideological rationality.

But as political scientist John Sides angrily reminds the propagators of the “Great American Independent” myth (Fareed Zakaria and Matt Bai in this case), it just isn’t the case that independents are the driving force in American politics.  Most studies show that most so-called independents aren’t actually independent, and those who are account for less than 10% of the electorate.

The interesting philosophical questions here surround (1) the attractiveness of the “independent” label to American voters themselves, and (2) the attractiveness of the “independent” meme in the coverage of politics by the media.  Not surprisingly, both trends reinforce the other; popular commentators aren’t just reacting to citizens’ professed ideologies – they’re helping to form them by continually playing up the refreshing, non-biased role of the reasonable moderate.

-Colin

Related posts:

  1. Abusing state power
  2. Glenn Beck and Plato
  3. Is political science relevant?
  4. A laughing matter?
  5. Congress – run by the minority?

January 27, 2010 · Filed Under Colin, Politics

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  • Editors

    Jacob Bronsther is a law student at NYU, a former Fulbright Scholar to Mauritius, and a graduate of Cornell University. He has an MPhil in Political Theory from the University of Oxford.

  • Sam Gill is a consultant in Washington and a graduate of the University of Chicago. He studied Political Theory at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

  • Marc Grinberg is a Presidential Management Fellow with the U.S. government and a graduate of Princeton University. He earned an MPhil in Political Theory from the University of Oxford.

  • John Rood is the founder of Next Step Test Preparation and a graduate of Michigan State University. He has an AM in Political Theory from the University of Chicago.

  • Luke Freedman is a student at Carleton College, pursuing a double major in Philosophy and Political Science.


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