Net Neutrality and the Creation of a Partisan Issue

Parties influence many aspects of politics from candidate selection to policy formation. To quote the famous political scientist Schattssneider “…democracy is impossible save in terms of parties”. One important way that parties shape American democracy is in how they structure policies. A party intends to be divisive and at the same time appealing to the largest portion of voters. In short its main objective is to win elections. A key strategy that all parties’ use is to pick a side on a non debated policy and turn it into a partisan issue. By making something political they can use it to appeal to moderate voters who will give more support to the party because of its newly stated position on such an issue. The party’s goal is to gain new voters by adopting new policies that attract more voters without isolating their base. This is how and why net neutrality became a hot topic of debate and a partisan issue between Democrats and Republicans

            Net neutrality when it was first being debated was not a partisan issue. Most voters did not know what net neutrality was or how it impacted them. This therefore allowed parties to take a stance on the issue and attempt to persuade voters that their position was correct. The fact that voters were not informed on the topic meant that parties could present the information in a way that would influence them to support the party’s stance. These actions from parties can be explained by a political science theory, which suggests that parties shape constituents’ ideology. If parties had not taken a stance on net neutrality it is unlikely then that the constituents would have had a personal position regarding net neutrality. This is because as the theory suggests the less informed a voter is the more likely they will align themselves with a party’s platform and positions. A uniformed voter is also less likely to be passionate about something they know nothing about.  This therefore allows parties to divide the country and voters over an issue because of constituent’s loyalty to their party’s policy preferences. Thus by knowing which party a voter supports one could also predict their opinion regarding something like net neutrality.

            Now to explain how net neutrality became a partisan issue in the United States one only needs to be familiar with recent American politics. Once President Obama took a stance and supported net neutrality this caused the Republican Party to oppose it. This was partly because of their opposition towards the president and party because they could use it to attempt to gain political support. The opposition for net neutrality did not come from the Republican base but was instead from the party organization. In the end there was little parties could do because net neutrality remained protected by the FCC.  This issue however demonstrates how both parties were able to mobilize voters’ support and shape their ideology for their respective sides over a newly created policy concern. Personal ideology was shaped by the political parties and as a result voters shifted their positions to align with their party.

            Certain issues that become partisan like net neutrality do not always directly affect their constituents universally in the same way net neutrality does. The Key Stone Pipeline is an example of a policy that affects a small part of the country yet is a nationally debated issue. Political parties will seek anything that can be made partisan as long as it supports their ideals and will benefit them politically. Net neutrality is only a recent example of something non-partisan that was turned into a partisan issue. This is a strategy that parties have been using for decades and as long as parties exist will continue to use to help them win votes. As the next presidential election approaches it would be reasonable to assume that parties will raise new concerns and find new issues to debate so that they can energize and mobilize their supporters. What the future candidates and public will debate about will largely be determined by what policies parties chose to make partisan.     

Sources:

http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-what-you-need-know-now

https://www.whitehouse.gov/net-neutrality

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/barack-obama-net-neutrality-112759.html

Wright and Schaffner 2002 Wright and Schaffner (Class Reading)

Carsey and Layman 2006 Carsey (Class Reading)