Weekly Focus 7
Politicians have long reputations of breaking campaign promises once elected. Everyone knows about George H.W. Bush and how his promise for no new taxes came back to haunt him. According to an article by the European Economic Association, promises are made to change beliefs about policies a politician may implement if elected but could also backfire in the future if the majority view shifts. Politicians will usually align their promises with issues that are relevant and receiving a lot of attention, as well as with what their party platform is. Over time campaigns have changed and in recent times they have become candidate-centered, meaning the party platform may differ from a candidate’s platform such is the case with Donald Trump. In this election especially, the candidates have made very large and important promises that could affect people all around the country. Many Americans don’t trust these promises because of the business that revolves around campaigns, specifically the funds aspect. People associate promises made to benefit those who have contributed funds through things like super PACS, these groups can collect funds from business and corporations and influence their interests in the campaign instead of the American people. This election has seen big promises mad that would actually affect the average American and certain groups as well. A New York Times article touches on the fact that whatever candidate wins will be restricted in influencing LGBTQ rights policies, if a democrat wins, a republican run House will likely not let it pass. While on the other side a republican winning could lead to drawing back on rights such as same sex marriage legalization that have passed under a democratic president. Either side winning would affect a community that has constantly had to fight for rights every day, but historically large promises like these can be obstructed because other forces out of an individual’s hands. When Obama was a candidate in 2008 he promised to deal with health insurance. He kept this promise and passed the Affordable Care Act, but as Gitelson states he couldn’t and hasn’t been able to pass gun control reform because of the strong opposition from Republicans and even some Democrats in Congress. This election has seen a lot of bringing up of history, mostly in a negative light. While some people are against Trump because of past lewd comments, people still associate him with the Republican party and depending on your view you might always oppose that party. Many LGBTQ communities are so against Trump because he is running for the Republican party, and historically they have not backed LGBTQ rights policies, in addition a platform goal of theirs is to repeal the legalization of same sex marriage in all 50 states. The community are most likely to take place in retrospective voting because of this, therefore they could let Hillary, who has pushed for their rights, to win and keep up with those promises. In an article by CommonDreams, the subject of the” Trump Effect” spreading is connected to the laws being passed in state such as North Carolina that forces transgender students to go to the bathrooms that align with the gender on their birth certificate. While Trump pushes for more conservative issues, such as religious freedom that would allow businesses to deny service to same sex couples, Republican governors have been violating human rights. If Trump did win his policies would be opposed and praised by both sides which could cause conflict with approval. In Gitelson the idea of recall is discussed, which is a method of getting elected officials to leave office. This could be used if there was enough opposition to the official’s stance, or if they were corrupt. While most politicians will try to keep their promises because of pressure, at times it can be out of their hands or not beneficial because of changing perspectives on such issues.
Works Cited
Arogones, Enriqueta., Journal of the European Economic Association. Vol. 5, No. 4 (Jun.,2007),
- 846-884
Associates Press. “Why It Matters: Issues at Stake in Election”New York Times, 15 October
2016, p.1.
Gitelson, Alan. American Government Myths and Realities. New York. Oxford University Press
Marcellus, Jill. “New Law Makes North Carolina First State to Pass Anti-Transgender
Legislation”. CommonDreams. August 29 2016
Daynah Melendez 