Government Shutdown Timeline Since 1980

Government shutdown refers to a situation where a bill providing federal funds to government programs or agencies fail to pass in the House of Congress. When a bill of federal funds fail the government enter into a state of ‘shutdown’ where its activities are affected thus leaving it with a temporary situation of absence of employees and all the federal activities come to a halt ( Brass, 2013) . From the data above it is easy to notice a trend where the government shutdown can occur either when there is a divided government. During these shutdowns, the government is divided when one party controlling the presidency and another party controlling one or both chambers of Congress. It’s the most common instances where the government shutdown has occurred when the president is from a different party while one of the two chambers is being controlled by another party ( Meyers, 1997) . 

From the data above we can also conclude that a government shutdown lasts longer when there is a standoff between the parties controlling both chambers of the Congress. For example, from the table, we can identify three instances where the shutdown lasted for more than 15 days and we can use the information to support the hypothesis. From the 1995 -1996 shutdown that lasted for 21 days, Bill Clinton who was a Democrat was the president but both chambers of the Congress were under the control of The Republican party. In 2013, the shutdown lasted for 16 days at the time Ballack Obama a Democrat was the president the house of representative had Republicans as the majority while the Senate had Democrats as the Majority. In 2018-2019 shutdown that lasted for 35 days, President Trump was the president and the two houses were divided between republicans and democrats. It is an indication that when there is one party controlling the presidency and another party controlling one or both chambers of Congress the shutdown lasts longer. 

From the above, inferences we can conclude that political polarization is the main cause of government shutdown in the United States. For example, when there are differences in political ideologies between the two main political parties that control the two Congress chambers, the standoff occurs and they last longer ( Meyers, 1997). Taking an example of the most recent shutdown, which occurred in Jan 2019 the shutdown was because the Democrats would not support a bill on federal funding for the government that was proposing the funding of the American-Mexican border. The differences between the two chambers on the funding of the wall led to the longest government shutdown which went past a month crippling government activities all over the United States. 

Differences in political ideologies of the two major political parties in the United States has been said to be the cause of the shutdown. The political ideologies of the Democrats differ from those of the Republicans which cause great friction between the members of the two parties which come down to voting. The political party that is affiliated with the president will always support the budget that the president is requesting for members of the other party when they do not agrees with the budget proposal they vote against the budget Kosar, 2004) . From such a point it depends who are the majority in the two chambers (Senate and House of Representatives). The government shutdown is not however supported by any of the political party but they aim at preventing misallocation of resources. However, it is also good to point that at that sometimes a shutdown occurs when the president’s party is controlling the two chambers of the Congress. It happens when the members of Congress do not support the budget suggestion by the president. 

Federal funding of the government is important and when the Congress fails to pass a bill on federal funding. It results in a full or partial shutdown of the government as there are no funds to support federal activities ( Brass, 2013). It has happened severally in the last few years with the trend being linked to political polarization. The differences in political ideologies between the two main parties in Congress led to a lack of support on the federal budget bill. 

References 

Brass, C. T. (2013). The shutdown of the federal government: Causes, processes, and effects. 

Kosar, K. R. (2004). The shutdown of the federal government: causes, effects, and process. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. 

Meyers, R. T. (1997). Late appropriations and government shutdowns: Frequency, causes, consequences, and remedies. Public Budgeting & Finance , 17 (3), 25-38.