I volunteer with a group that curates political news and posts it on our Facebook and Twitter accounts. We describe ourselves as nonpartisan, but from time to time, people seem confused by what that word means.
For example, if we post an article that criticizes a conservative political party, right-leaning supporters will accuse us of not being nonpartisan. Likewise, if we post an article that criticizes a liberal political party, left-leaning supporters will accuse us of not being nonpartisan.
To them, nonpartisan means not criticizing their party.
However, one can be critical of a political party while still being nonpartisan. Let me show you how.
What does nonpartisan mean?
First, let’s look at some definitions:
not partisan
Merriam-Webster
especially : free from party affiliation, bias, or designation
not a member of or connected with a group or political party:
Cambridge Dictionary
not supporting any political party
MacMillan Dictionary
not supporting the ideas of one particular political party or group of people strongly
Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
That’s probably good for now.
Basically, being nonpartisan means not being tied to one party. The opposite of nonpartisan is, well, partisan, which, of course, means being tied to one party.
Nonpartisan: Criticizing politics
You see, we can be critical of one party while still being nonpartisan, so long as we don’t favour one party above another. As long as we share articles from multiple sources and that hold more than one party accountable, then we can still be nonpartisan.
Likewise, in everyday conversation, a person can be nonpartisan if they criticize a policy of a political party.
For example, I’m quite left leaning in my political views, and I have, on more than one occasion, criticized policies of conservative political parties in tweets and Facebook comments.
Often, a conservative supporter will come along and say something negative about the dominant opposing party (Liberal Party for federal politics, and Alberta NDP for provincial politics). They make the assumption that since I’m criticizing the conservative party, I must support the dominant opposing party.
Except I don’t. I have criticized those other parties as well. I have no allegiance to any party. I hold no party membership, and I don’t volunteer on any political campaigns.
When I criticize political policies, it’s not because I’m trying to shore up support for “my” party. It’s simply a criticism of that policy.
Nonpartisan: Supporting politics
Conversely, one can support a policy of a political party without needing to be affiliated with that party. I could, for example, support the Liberal Party decriminalizing marijuana position, but that doesn’t mean I support their policies on pipeline expansion or justice reform.
Looking at policies independent of the party behind the policy—whether supporting or criticizing that policy—is a good example of nonpartisanism. Party allegiance interferes with our ability to be nonpartisan, and not being nonpartisan prevents us from criticizing the policies of the parties we vote for.
What are your thoughts of nonpartisanism? Let me know in the comments below.