Divided government is good. Historically speaking, the worst policies and laws tend to get passed, often with a razor-thin majority, whenever one party or the other holds both houses of Congress and the presidency. This applies no matter which party is in power. No one person, and no one party, holds a monopoly on good ideas, truth, being “right,” or knowing the best direction for the country. At the same time, neither side is “evil” or “a threat to democracy.” Such hyperbolic statements by leaders and elected officials are both dangerous and irresponsible.
There are indeed good ideas and bad ideas, and often what is good for one group of people is bad for another. That’s just life. Respectful disagreement and debate are good things because they help us all to arrive, together, at a better solution to our problems. This is why compromise is always a good thing — no one walks away feeling unheard and shut out of the process. We have lost this crucial balance in recent years. No one side is in itself a “threat to democracy,” but the rising level of self-righteous anger on both sides definitely is.
