David Schultz, Professor of Political Science at Hamline University, USA, Visiting Lecturer at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), and a member of the MRU LAB Justice Research Laboratory.
Donald Trump is a figure who embodies the deep polarization in American politics. The recent government shutdown is only the latest battlefield in this long-brewing divide. Alongside the rise of political violence, these events reveal how fractured the United States has become. They are not isolated incidents but symptomatic of broader cultural, economic, and political tensions that have been building for decades.
Government Shutdown – Practical Problem and Political Symbol
The government shutdown is not just a practical problem – it carries symbolic weight. The dispute currently centers on healthcare funding and subsidies supporting President Obama’s signature achievement, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Republicans in Congress have opposed the ACA from the beginning and have repeatedly sought to weaken it. When efforts to fully repeal the law failed, they cut subsidies through the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” in July, leaving Democrats now fighting to restore them.
This conflict goes beyond healthcare policy. It is also about political positioning ahead of the 2026 congressional elections. Each party digs in, unwilling to appear weak to their base. Democrats see restoring ACA subsidies as essential to protecting millions of Americans, while Republicans view opposition to Obamacare as a core part of their political identity. The shutdown illustrates how governance itself has become hostage to electoral strategy.
Polarization – More Than Just Policy
Yet the shutdown is just the tip of the iceberg. It symbolizes deeper divides in the United States that have been decades in the making. The polarization we see today cannot be reduced to a single fight over healthcare or any other policy issue. It reflects fundamental disagreements over culture, economics, race, religion, and America’s place in the world.
Over the past fifty years, American public opinion has shifted from a broad middle consensus to polarized extremes. Where voters and politicians once overlapped across party lines, there is now little room for bipartisanship. Votes in Congress increasingly fall strictly along party lines, and there are fewer moderates in either party. The two major political parties are now more ideologically divided than at any point in recent decades.
Economic and Social Drivers
Economic transformation has further exacerbated these divides. Over the past half-century, changes in the U.S. economy have created clear winners and losers. The gap between rich and poor has grown to its widest point in American history. The wealthiest thirty Americans possess more wealth than the bottom half of the population combined, making the U.S. the most unequal major democracy in the world.
Educational attainment has become a marker of political identity. Democrats increasingly draw support from college-educated voters, while Republicans receive more backing from those without a degree. This divide is not merely cultural; it shapes income, life opportunities, and social mobility. Democrats and Republicans increasingly do not just think differently—they live in separate communities, shop in different stores, consume different news, and exist in separate media ecosystems.
Racial and cultural changes deepen this entrenched division. The murder of George Floyd highlighted the ongoing realities of systemic racism, and demographic shifts indicate that the United States will soon have a majority non-white and less religious population. These changes provoke anxiety among Trump and his supporters, who see their cultural dominance eroding.
Two Americas
The result is two Americas: separate, unequal, and denying each other’s legitimacy. Democrats largely see the past fifty years as a story of progress—expanding rights, greater inclusion, and long-overdue reforms. Republicans often view the same developments as threats to tradition, stability, and identity. Trump exploits this perception, presenting himself as the champion of those who wish to roll back the social and political changes of the past half-century.
Trump’s Policy and Vision
Trump’s presidency can be understood as an effort to reverse these reforms. In civil rights, immigration, and social policy, he seeks to undo decades of progress. In foreign policy, he portrays the United States as weakened, despite the fact that America largely created a global system designed to benefit itself. His calls to renegotiate trade, weaken multilateral institutions, and return to a world of great-power spheres of influence reflect a nostalgic yet unrealistic vision of the past.
Trump embraces the fiction that the United States succeeded entirely on its own. He ignores the reality that alliances and international cooperation created the global order. Yearning for the Cold War era when the U.S. dominated world affairs, he overlooks that this period cannot be restored. The world has changed too much, and America’s own internal divisions make it even less likely the country can project the kind of unified leadership it once did.
Consequences of Polarization
The consequences of this polarization are profound. One side seeks to preserve and expand reforms, while the other seeks to dismantle them. The divide fosters a sense that democracy no longer works, fueling political violence. The events of January 6, 2021, are the most visible expression of this simmering belief that politics is war by other means.
Polarization also undermines America’s credibility abroad. If the United States cannot govern itself internally, its allies will question its reliability internationally. Government shutdowns, partisan brinkmanship, and cultural wars send signals both domestically and globally: a country uncertain of its identity and unsure of its commitments.
Trump is both the product and the exploiter of these divides. He represents the culmination of fifty years of political, economic, and cultural polarization. His political success depends on amplifying fears and exploiting divisions. The current government shutdown is just the latest battlefield in a conflict showing no signs of ending.
The United States today is divided not only over policy but over identity, values, and visions for the nation’s future. This makes compromise nearly impossible, ensuring that each new crisis—domestic or international—will be filtered through the lens of polarization. Trump did not create this world, but he thrives in it. Unless structural divides are addressed, the battles that now paralyze Washington will continue well into the future.