Are there any theories as to why there is so little public outcry about the US government shutdown?

Question

As an European living in the US I'm baffled about the partial US government shutdown. Specifically the lack of public outcry surprises me. In general I have the feeling that people sympathize with the unpaid feds but don't seem to be overly angry with Washington (both parties and POTUS).

For example, I would assume that in most European countries there would have been a strike by the TSA workers, grounding the vast majority of the national passenger air travel. The economic damage of only a few days would spur the government into action, despite partisan agendas.

What makes the US so different that there is no hard push back against the partial shutdown from the population? Please stay factual and do not dwell in opinions or political party views.

Answer 1

To put in context that OP could understand, the US federal Government is similar to the government offices of the European union. I'm not saying the function or structure is similar, but I'm illustrating how far it is from the affairs of the normal citizen.

For example, I look out my window and my street is plowed, the highways are salted, the local courts are adjudicating, the police are policing, etc. What I need from government is being taken care of.

Further, please also be aware that the situation is fluid. No one knows how it is going to end and it will only get worse. As days go by, more things will fail. For example, my mother is retired and gets a stipend from the government for food. In anticipation of possible issues, she received her February Stipend last week, but what about March? This hints that you may see more people give an out cry in the future. But right now things are not much difference for the majority of us.

It is also worth mentioning that people are grumbling. Not just those who are furloughed, but those that depend on Federal services. For example Travelers are being hit hard. I just read a post about someone who is really upset that the "No-call" service is not working (that is a service where you complain of sales calls and attempt to get them to stop). Things are starting to fray.

Answer 2

There are a few things to realize about the US governmental system, that Europeans often don't get. The first is that these shutdowns are not that unusual. There have been shutdowns of some kind under pretty much every president in modern times. (Of course that begs the question "Why hasn't there been outcry every time one happens", but people do get used to things.)

Second, only the Federal government is affected, and the US have fewer services delivered by the Federal (i.e. national) government than other countries. A lot of day-to-day services are delivered at the state and municipal level. And for some essential services provision is mandatory, meaning the workers have to show up whether they are being paid or not.

Third US politics is adversarial. Really adversarial. A huge number of supporters of both political parties think that the other party is utterly evil and out to destroy the country. This means they will endure a lot of inconvenience if they think it's aimed at thwarting the plans of the 'enemy'. In most other democracies, especially European, most citizens would agree that the most important job of the government is to make sure that the country actually runs smoothly, and that ideological programs come second. (This isn't always true, but it's a lot more true than in the US.) The adversarial approach means that some party supporters see any form of compromise as 'siding with the enemy'. While in most democracies coming to a sensible compromise is a political win for both sides, in the US it can be a political loss for both sides, leading to more support for the extremist wing of your party.

Fourthly the US system if government is virtually guaranteed to have power split between its legislative bodies, and means that the three main parts of government - President, Senate and House of Representitives - are usually controlled by two different parties, and since the system give virtual veto power to each part, deadlock is inevitable. The US public has been constantly told that their system is "The best in the world", so they assume that these shutdowns are just inevitable.

Fifthly most Americans don't have any real exposure to political systems outside their own country, and what there is is often focussed on pointing out flaws (real or imaginary). This means they don't realize that shutdowns like this don't happen everywhere.

Answer 3

Because the US a Federal system, a lot of Government function is handled by the States or even at the local level. Examples include police, fire services, schools, many courts, garbage collection, and most roadwork.

Even at the Federal level, many things are still running. Examples include Federal courts, Social Security (Federal pensions), the post office, the military, some Federal contractors, and air traffic control.

Some things are partly curtailed. Examples include the IRS, Federal parks, some Federal contractors, and some museums. Some people are affected by these things. Many aren't, at least not immediately.

EDIT: With the benefit of hindsight, it is now (May 2019) worth adding one additional point. There were a lot of warnings in the press about how the shutdown would hurt the economy, i.e. from CBS or the NYT, or from Vox. But in fact, growth topped expectations. These particular warnings simply weren't accurate. Now getting back to Americans, some believe such warnings and others don't. I don't want to pretend that the doubters are right every time. but sometimes they are. And for that portion of Americans, this was another reason not to be particularly concerned about the shutdown.

Answer 4

1. Individual and States' Rights, Capitalism: Most vital and responsive services do not go through the federal government. With the exception of some federal employees, a federal government shutdown does not immediately interfere with the daily lives of most citizens. Your mileage may vary based on which European nation(s) you relate best to, but the percentage of government employees in the U.S., while uncomfortably high, is roughly half that of Norway's (15.9% versus 30%), and the U.S. is at least a couple points below average when compared to the whole of Europe. If Americans need to buy something, send something, or be somewhere, they rely largely on private commerce. When they need a bill made into law, a judgment passed on a matter in federal courts, a presidential pardon, a war declared, etc. they need Congress or the judiciary or the presidential office or investigative task forces up and running. Local law enforcement provides the bulk of peacekeeping services, and the division of responsibilities into state and local government and private commerce explains much of the resiliency. The grocery store, the gas station and the Internet still usually function just fine for the interim. This is designed into the Constitution, that the people and the states respectively reserve the broadest rights (Articles 11 and 12 in the original Bill of Rights). The more federal shutdowns there are, the more the people and the states will be weaned off of the necessity for daily federal intervention in their personal lives. It has been acceptable for Congress to convene only occasionally in the past, so why not today?

2. Federalism itself, leading to benefits of scale: A primary argument for the federal government advanced in the Federalist Papers was that the United States would be more robust to local commercial upset and to partisan intrigue:

It has often given me pleasure to observe that independent America was not composed of detached and distant territories, but that one connected, fertile, widespreading country was the portion of our western sons of liberty. Providence has in a particular manner blessed it with a variety of soils and productions, and watered it with innumerable streams, for the delight and accommodation of its inhabitants. A succession of navigable waters forms a kind of chain round its borders, as if to bind it together; while the most noble rivers in the world, running at convenient distances, present them with highways for the easy communication of friendly aids, and the mutual transportation and exchange of their various commodities. With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people--a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence. This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties.

https://www.congress.gov/resources/display/content/The+Federalist+Papers#TheFederalistPapers-2

3. The ethics and values of the people themselves. The current implementation of Constitutional rights and federalism is far from perfect, but self-reliance is built into the very ethic of the people. To the extent that it still prevails, the unity and solidarity of the American people regardless of the condition of their leadership is an excellent argument for their not being up in arms about a shutdown. This does not contradict the existence of diffidence by some, but the American people know they can outlast the partisanry of participants in the federal government, and not the other way around. They have already fought and won a war for their independence, and fought again to preserve that union, and succeeded.

Answer 5

Have a look at the book Manficaturing Consent by Noam Chomsky & Edward Herman which helps explain how corporate interests have captured the commanding heights of the media.

By this means, they have turned a putatively free press, into one bound to their corporate pay-masters, and one which is addicted to so called ‘celebrity culture’. The media then becomes a weapon of mass distraction rather than one aimed at informing the citizen body.