Adversarial Politics

Adversarial Politics takes place when one party (usually not in Government) takes the opposite (or at least a different) opinion to that of the other (usually the Government) even when they may personally agree with what the Government is trying to do.

Those opposed to adversarial politics believe that politicians should state what they actually think rather than following the 'party line'. They consider adversarial politics to be cynical and intolerant, with ‘winning’ the driving  principle versus attempting to establish the truth. Politicians captivated by the ‘struggle’ for ‘victory’ corrupt the ideals that brought them into politics in the first place.

Adversarial politics is often blamed for turning the electorate away from politics and their right to participate in the deomocratic process of their country through voting at elections. In UK, many voters consider 'prime minister’s question time', a weekly ritual involving the prime minister and the leader of Her Majesty’s opposition confronting each other in Parliament, to be a sad and embarrassing relic from the past. This only feedis their sense of apathy and disillusionment with politics. 

In the US, huge fundraising for presidential elections increasingly results in campaigns focused on personalities versus honest debate, and trading insults versus addressing substantive issues.

The more adversarial politics becomes, the greater the erosion of voter engagement and threat to the democratic process.