From food stamps to flight travel, government shutdowns can impact everyone.
On Oct. 1, the U.S. government shutdown began after Republicans and Democrats could not agree on a bill funding government services, according to the BBC.
“Both sides have what we call partisan gridlock, which means Republicans want something, Democrats want something, and they’re unwilling or unable to find a compromise in between that’ll appease both sides,” Associate Professor of Political Science Laura Merrifield Wilson said.
As of Oct. 22, this shutdown has become the second longest in U.S. history, according to CNBC, the last being from December 2018 to January 2019. According to Associate Professor of Political Science Greg Shufeldt, shutdowns like this have become more common due to extreme competitiveness and ideological polarization between political parties.
According to NBC News, federal workers will largely not be paid during this shutdown, yet those deemed as essential workers still must work. Around 700,000 federal employees have been furloughed, with almost as many being required to work without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
According to Wilson, government shutdowns impact the most vulnerable. This could be single parents or working-class families, and even college students. Wilson said entitlement programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are not being processed during the shutdown, which could potentially impact families who rely on those benefits.
Not only are people’s lives impacted during the shutdown, according to Shufeldt, but so are their opinions.
“In general, regardless of our partisanship, this [shutdown] surely reduces our trust in democratic institutions and government,” Shufeldt said. “We just lose our trust in the government. We lose our trust in efficacy, our belief that we can make a difference.”
