Submerged state. The ‘submerged state’ explains why Biden is underwater 2022-10-07
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A submerged state is a term used to describe a situation in which a country or region is controlled or influenced by another country or region, often in a covert or indirect manner. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including economic, political, and military factors.
One example of a submerged state is the situation of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States that has been subjected to various forms of control by the United States throughout its history. While Puerto Rico is technically a self-governing entity, it has limited autonomy and is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States in many areas. This has led to widespread discontent among Puerto Ricans, who have long sought greater independence and autonomy.
Another example of a submerged state is the relationship between the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, such as the Falkland Islands and Bermuda. While these territories are self-governing, they are also subject to British control and influence in various ways. This has led to ongoing debates about the nature of the relationship between these territories and the United Kingdom, and about the extent to which they should be allowed to determine their own destiny.
There are also many cases in which a submerged state is created as a result of military conquest or colonization. For example, many African and Asian countries were once colonies of European powers and were subjected to various forms of control and exploitation. Even after gaining independence, these countries often continue to be influenced by their former colonizers in various ways.
In general, the concept of a submerged state is a controversial one, as it can be seen as a form of imperialism or neocolonialism. Many people argue that all countries should be treated as equals and should be allowed to determine their own fate without interference from outside powers. However, the reality is that power dynamics and influence often play a significant role in international relations, and the concept of a submerged state will likely continue to be a relevant and controversial topic for the foreseeable future.
The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy by Suzanne Mettler, Hardcover
It affects the ability of politicians to make change in areas related to those submerged policies, because they are hard to understand for ordinary people not well-versed in the technical operations of the federal government. The Higher Education Act of 1965 -Signed into law by Johnson -gave banks incentives to lend to students at lower rates of interests by offering that the federal government would pay half the interest such loans and would guarantee them, promising to repay them entirely if a borrower defaulted -Subsidize a private actor to provide social benefits -Medicare and Medicaid provide significant coverage -"private" insurance plans provided by employers are subsidized by government, which privileges them with tax-exempt status -the construction of vast numbers of the nation's hospitals was funded by a federal policy enacted in 1948 -a significant portion of students in the nation's medical and nursing schools are funded by federal scholarships They permit particular households to pay less in taxes because they are either involved in some kind of activity or they belong to a class of persons that policymakers deem worthy of public support -families and individuals receive social benefits either in the form of smaller tax bills or refunds from the IRS Government does not directly provide goods and services but operates instead through a variety of indirect mechanisms that permeate and structure aspects of the economy -tax expenditures -contracting out government services to nonprofits and for-profits -subsidize programs provided by private services 1. The pundit class might give offer knowing nods for fiscal responsibility, but, alas, that will win precisely zero votes. Americans like those policies regardless of what their ideology and partisanship is, most people like the policies that we have. Even after Clinton's reform effort in 1993 led to the beginnings of "direct lending," in which government itself made loans using federal capital rather than subsidizing lenders to do so, the well-established bank-based system still continued to predominate, making 80 percent of all loans until the credit crisis hit in 2008. Remarkably, however, many Americans have been largely unaware of government's substantial role in health care, and therefore reform legislation in 2009—10 appeared to them to be a startling new and foreign intervention into a system that belonged mostly if not entirely to the private sector.
What is the submerged state? How does it impact public support for government intervention?
Democrats when they emphasize what policy contributions are being made and what they've achieved, et cetera, and what difference policies make in people's lives, they tend to do well. Only half of the respondents, 50 percent, answered correctly by saying "no"; 29 percent mistakenly believed that people were required to pay such taxes, and 21 percent simply said they did not know. Each year, our collective subscription is automatically renewed — and often expanded — and we pay little notice. The Obama administration has been roundly criticized for its inability to convey how much it has accomplished for ordinary citizens. Melissa Harris-Perry: I think here of during the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and there were folks holding up the signs that said, "Government Hands-Off My Medicare," and it was like, "Ah, yes, maybe you don't know how that works. In her book The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy, political scientist Suzanne Mettler describes how when the Obama Administration attempted to improve the quality of health care and tackle the complexities of the looming Great Recession, polls revealed that citizens were dissatisfied with the results. The programs of the submerged state are distinctly clustered at one end of that spectrum, being especially camouflaged by their unique designs.
I'm hoping that some of these could be enacted in separate pieces of legislation going forward because they're all things that Americans really appreciate and tell pollsters they would like to see done, and so I hope that can happen. The use of private companies as a means to funnel a government programs blurs how government can be helpful and reinforces the common notion that government mostly does harm. These very expensive programs like the home mortgage interest deduction, we don't think of in the same way. For example, the government pays for many services that are actually delivered by a private company. You also make it hard to see.
A few scholars have theorized briefly that such policies are likely obscured from the view of most people, and thus probably fail to prompt citizens to take political action in relation to them. As the report notes, the amount of revenue collected if the tax breaks were eliminated would be somewhat less than the tax expenditures, because people would change their behavior in the absence of incentives. Yet many older people get this government program through private insurance. The typical justification for tax expenditures is that they promote socially valuable behaviors, like home ownership or obtaining health care. As a result, real reform look like inaction.
How does the submerged state impact public support for government intervention?
More and more things that the government does for citizens are invisible, Mettler emphasizes, but for a variety of reasons. Yet the submerged state, of its very nature, is anything but transparent, and this induces resentment, passivity, and destructive cynicism among citizens, all of which are very damaging to the system of American democracy. It's such a popular program and people think of it as the program that enables middle-class Americans to afford homes but, in fact, that's really not the case. With lack of transparency comes a lack of control. These are things you instinctively understand or think you understand. In fact, the health care system experienced by Americans of the early twenty-first century has been fostered by public policy and highly subsidized by government spending for three- quarters of a century.
The ‘submerged state’ explains why Biden is underwater
Just like if we have programs that are for poor people, they tend to be much more direct visible programs, where people are benefiting from government and Americans have all sorts of attitudes about policies like that. But even when the concept of the submerged state is fully understood, the impact still remains negative, as it damages public trust in government. The less Americans know about the more government does, the worse our democracy fares. For Mettler, there should be more general clarity. Here's President Reagan at his first inauguration in 1981.
I'm wondering if there is an example of a submerged policy or benefit that became more visible, and then went either way, that people were like, "Oh, if I know that's coming from the government, I don't want it," or potentially became more warmly attached to it. Accuracy and availability may vary. One part of the study, for example, first asked people whether they support or oppose the Home Mortgage Income Deduction. Even in the case of tax relief in his stimulus package, many citizens thought the opposite result had taken place. Professor Mettler's book, The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy argues that this inability to see the work of government in our lives is a big part of why Americans think government is the problem. Melissa Harris-Perry: I'm also wondering about the elected officials.
