Wedge issue

A wedge issue in politics is any issue used to create a division within a political party. These issues are usually employed as a tactic by a minority party against a governing majority party, with the aim of splitting the majority's electorate into two or more camps.Although any issue could potentially be used as a wedge, some of the most common examples are often concerned with social justice issues like abortion or civil rights.Due to the prevalence of social justice issues as a wedge, the tactic is often most effectively employed by Conservative parties against Liberal parties. American political strategistLee Atwaterhas been noted as an early champion of wedge issue politics during theReaganera.

Examples

Australia

See also:Tampa affair

During the 2001 federal election campaign inAustralia,there was a controversy regarding Afghan asylum seekers arriving on unauthorized vessels, there having been several widely publicized landings of hundreds of people. On August 24, 2001, a ship bearing 460 such people became distressed, and its passengers were picked up by theNorwegiancargo vesselMV Tampa.

The governingLiberal Party of Australiatook the opportunity to appear tough on asylum seekers. TheoppositionAustralian Labor Party(ALP) had a slight majority of people strongly favoring more sympathetic treatment and was perceived as internally split. This provoked a debate within the ALP on the merits of siding with national opinion (in favor of the Government's actions) or opposing. With over 90% of some television polls supporting the government's stance, the leader of the ALPKim Beazleychose to go against the majority and agree to the former policy—though it ended up opposing certain elements of proposed legislation, which the Liberal Party framed as weak on border security.

The Liberal Party campaigned largely on a platform of border security and increased its support at thefederal electionthat November despite being theincumbent.Some who would typically vote Labor voted instead for theGreensand theDemocratsin protest against what they saw as the ALP's complicity.

It was later claimed that the controversial campaign strategistsLynton CrosbyandMark Textorhad an active role in making the Tampa incident a wedge issue for Howard to exploit.

United States

During the Civil Rights era, Republicans attempted to drive a wedge between Democrats on the issue of race. In the1968 US Presidential election,northern Democratic support of the Civil Rights Act caused a cleavage with southern Democrats which led to Democratic Alabama Governor George Wallace mounting a third party campaign.

Gay marriagewas considered a wedge issue in 1990s Democratic politics, with PresidentBill Clintonsigning into law theDefense of Marriage Act(DOMA) in 1996 amidst pressure from Centrist Democrats, but its efficacy was lost in later years as support for gay marriage in the electorate grew.

Reform of the laws regardingillegal immigration to the United Statesoperated as a wedge issue in 2007. Some Republican legislators, with the backing of PresidentGeorge W. Bush,sought to address the dual issues of ongoing illegal immigration to the United States and the illegal status of an estimated 12 million people currently living in America. Other Republicans opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants, out of fear that their constituents were unsupportive of immigration reform. Some Democrats pitched in to keep the issue alive as they recognized the issue was dividing the Republican party between advocates of reform and advocates of the status quo. The result was a division in Republican ranks and a stalled bill in Congress. After the election ofDonald Trumpin 2016, the views of American voters shifted to align more closely with their parties along partisan lines, reducing immigration policy's status as a wedge issue.

Covid-19served as wedge issue for both political parties in the2020 US Presidential election,with both the Democratic and Republican electorate divided over whether candidatesJoe Bidenor Donald Trump could effectively handle the pandemic. Biden sought to divide the Republican base by claiming Trump had mismanaged the response to the Covid crisis, while Trump contended that Biden, if elected, would shut down the economy.

During the 2024 election cycle, Republicans sought to drive a wedge between Democratic voters by portraying Democrats as taking a radical stance by aligning themselves with thetransgender rights movement.

See also

• Attack ad
• Cleavage (politics)
• Cross-cutting cleavage
• Divide and rule
• Dog-whistle politics
• Negative campaigning
• Propaganda
• Push poll
• Salami tactics
• Third rail (politics)
• Issue Voting