Mending the bridge: Repairing political justification in American society

American democratic institutions have begun to degrade without a robust and secure connection between representatives and constituents—their purpose lost. Most work has either sought to exclusively define the extent and source of a lack of political justification in American politics or propose general solutions to the problem. However, this work has not yet drawn a connection between source and solution in a broad, aggregated analysis. This paper first presents innovative interpretations of (1) the reasons for a lack of political justification and (2) previously proposed methods for improving political justification. Then, I suggest methods to solidify deliberative democracy that increase justification in American politics. In doing so, the paper establishes a clear link between the greatest reasons for a lack of political justification in American politics and my solution to the deficiency. My synthesis reveals that the deficiency of political justification in American politics is a result of popular disinterest and political institutions that perpetuate the problem. Therefore, my intervention suggests implementing programs that simultaneously increase popular interest in political justification and modify American political institutions to support instead of hinder political accountability. All Americans who feel a persistent disconnect between their own beliefs and the policies supported by their elected officials should take great interest in this work. These feelings stem from a systemic lack of accountability in political representation, the very issue I aim to address.

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