Ivy league professor Suzanne Mettler’s book about the submerged state proves economic inequality perpetuates programs benefiting middle and upper-class America through incentivized behavior. Former President Barack Obama campaigned to transform social policies to be more nationally accessible, which led to his campaign goals inevitably interacting with the political phenomenon of policies in the submerged state. Mettler defines the submerged states as “existing policies that lay beneath the surface of U.S market institutions and within the federal tax system” (Mettler 4). Examples of these submerged policies deal with included tax expenditures for married couples, student loans, as well house mortgages. Without substantial political background, knowledge, or awareness, the American public fails to understand or know these government programs exist or who they benefit and the media is partially to blame. This political ignorance threatens the foundation of American democracy because of the political and economic inequality that stems from the fact that the submerged state only kicks money back to those who already have it. Additionally, programs created to assist minorities and the poor do not provide as much benefit that the collective total of the submerged state does for those in the middle and upper class of America. It is necessary to communicate about the submerged state to increase knowledge that will lead to an increase in political equality and provide a greater opportunity for potential reform and the reallocation of government benefits.
Citizens widely misunderstand American government policies. A 2009 survey found under the Obama Administration a quarter of Americans believed taxes increased, while only 1 in 10 Americans knew taxes had lowered. (Mettler 2) Without public exposure and communication, Americans are oblivious to personally beneficial policies. Policies’ public invisibility prevents the potential for reform because of the political inequality formed.
Public opinion increases not only depending on policy exposure, but the amount of exposure. Mettler and Professor Matthew Guardino from Providence College facilitated an experiment by testing how the level of information provided on political policy increased support or opposition to submerged state policies. The experiment randomly selected over 500 adults and divided the subjects into three groups. Each group had a different amount of information on three tax expenditure policies: Home Mortgage Interest Deduction, Retirement Saving Contribution Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit. Mettler and Guardino provided group 1 (control group) with no information, group 2 a simple description parallel to the information policymakers convey to the public, and group 3 the basic description with further details on what income groups and political party these policies would benefit. Each subject had the voting options in favor, oppose or don’t know both before and after Mettler and Guardino provided their group's information. The results reviled individuals support for regressive programs (Home Mortgage Interest Deduction and Retirement Saving Contribution Tax Credit) reduced while progressive programs (Earned Income Tax Credit support increased (Mettler 57). Don’t know responses halved after being given more information for both groups. Also, the third group who had more knowledge saw a more substantial decline in don’t know answers as well. Mettler proved increased conversation influenced policy support or opposition significantly through the decrease in don’t know responses. The experiment reflects that policy information does help people form opinions and raise awareness and political equality issues, specifically those in the submerged state.
Political inequality continues to expand because it is difficult to close the political knowledge gap. Mettler’s experiment efficiently shows the relationship between communication and political awareness in regards to submerged state policies. Politicians increased discussion on submerged state policies can lead to reform, but Americans must be ready to listen. The experiment required participants to listen to the policy information regardless of their group. However, in their personal life, the participants have free choice. People maybe would listen more if they found these policies more exciting or perhaps people do not understand or know enough, so they lose interest in the topic. Mettler mentions problems with politician’s communication and the complexity of discussing submerged states. She also notes citizens with lower levels of general political knowledge may not have the cognitive capacity or the contextual information to comprehend the specific facts enough to express their policy preferences. Separately, citizens with high levels of political knowledge may be less influenced by new information because their strongly rooted beliefs usually have led them to express their opinion. The already vast divide in political knowledge nationally makes exposing submerged state policies more complex. Also, the intricacy of political awareness in the country makes achieving political equality challenging.
Expansion of television, cable, and internet in the last decade alone influences political engagement. Today, television channels and internet websites are infinite and can explain changes in political awareness. Partisanship dedication leaves them because of their high interest to make voting and policy decisions. Princeton professor Markus Prior states “News consumption and learning about politics are thus jointly determined by people’s content preferences and the availability of content to match these preferences. As the larger differences for new media users indicate, individual preferences become better predictors of political knowledge in a media environment that offers more content diversity and choice” (Prior 10) Television and internets newer and more diverse content polarize democratic policies. Citizens growing choices for entertainment will keep the political knowledge gap widening. While those with little governmental interest will become harder to reach, he notes how highly interested individuals are more likely to vote now more than ever because of the increase in political sources. The media can cater now to a wide variety of interests hurting the exposure of submerged state policies. Americans need to be reached out to about politics in a way that relates to their interests. A full discussion on the submerged state will be useful and will reduce political inequality once it has the attention of bipartisan.
Submerged state policies easily rally the party and partisans it helps the most. Politicians can spin details on a policy effortlessly. In the experiment when participants were given full information the way, people voted shifted. Citizens strong beliefs make the reform unlikely. Correlations are clear between political awareness and the consistency and stability of political opinions. The submerged state policies are submerged for a reason. Citizens with less political knowledge, no matter the policy at hand is furthering the submerged state. Additionally, partisans regardless of their political affiliation are dedicated to policies submerged, so exposure is not a considerable concern. Regardless of if officials are interested in talking about submerged state policies, those they represent are interested in keeping them submerged because of the benefits it serves them, thus again hurting the chances of reform.
Political reform is likely with increased communication about the submerged state and its relationship to political inequality. The challenge is however how to talk spark interest nationally and not just those with high political awareness and knowledge. The experiment conducted by Mettler and Guardino shows how increased political knowledge has a direct impact on submerged state issues. The most effective manner to achieving a government reform and taking policies out of the submerged state is through awareness provided by communication, not just verbally but through sources such as the media. Growth in bipartisan political awareness increases chances of reform. It is evident that with the more political knowledge to all citizens regardless of class or political party that open communication is key to gaining political equality in America.