Misrepresentation of Government in 'The West Wing'

The Fallacy of Using ‘The West Wing’ as a Pedagogical Tool Throughout the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, millions of viewers tuned into ‘The West Wing’ once a week to watch the government-theme series unravel. Aaron Sorkin, the creator of ‘The West Wing’, diligently crafted a TV series focused on the way the United States government functions as a whole. Indeed, the show served as a brilliant entertainment experience but unfortunately portrays the government as something it is not: friendly and simplified. This paper will discuss the role of ‘The West Wing’ in modern political science education as well as how the show incorrectly represented the government system while providing a solution to its inadequacy. Generally, television critics
In the United States government, it is very likely to see the unbalanced relationship between career-emphasis work and personal achievement. Politics as a whole is a very fast-paced, insensible career area. Politicians are driven to achieve not because of personal interests but because of career advancement. ‘The West Wing’ entertains viewers with the relationships of its characters, such as the “one-night stand” Sam had with a female prostitute that began the show in the first episode, “Pilot”. The show falsely gives attention to the personal lives of the characters, most likely for entertainment value, that would otherwise be ignored in the reality of politics. “Why ‘The West Wing’ Is A Terrible Guide to American Democracy” explains that the show “falls prey to the fallacy of personality-driven politics” (3). The article also explains other ways to make the show more politically correct for
Despite ‘The West Wing’ having seven seasons, the TV show easily gets through crises without the need of bureaucracy debates. In the modern day politics, it may take years to propose solutions to national problems. The President may feel urgent need to solve a certain problem, but it will need to pass through his cabinets before ever making its way to actually solving a situation. ‘The West Wing’ simply accomplishes the task of making the challenges of today’s government look easy to the viewer. Rosenberg writes, “There are few impasses an eloquent appeal cannot solve, and almost no foreign-policy conundrum for which a clever solution cannot be conceived” (3). For example, throughout the show, the concern of foreign policy is a point of stress on the President’s agenda. However, instead of using realistic problem solving methods, Aaron Sorkin proves that “national interests are no match for our protagonist’s force of personality” (4). It seems that in ‘The West Wing’, the personalities of the characters help to solve national problems, when in reality it is far from the truth. The constituents of the show further add in the lack of realistic education, proving that the show is strictly for entertainment value