
Especially during modern society, people’s political ideology is a common debate topic among not only Americans, but throughout the world. Though American politics is considered nefarious among the general population of the country, there are many people who remain hopeful in the American leaders. A perfect example of this hopefulness for the government lies within the television show Parks and Recreation. This example shows the positive effects of the government, how it provides useful services for the people, and how it works for the people. However, with mostly every text, there is one that contrasts its ideas. Within the television show Veep, the government employees are perceived as narcissistic and selfish. They are only into government for their own personal gain and have no interest in the people. These two texts show two sides of the American government that the people have acknowledged. 

Within in the episode of Parks and Recreation “The Debate,” the show revolves around a group of government employees who work for the Parks and Recreation in the city of Pawnee, Indiana. The episode presents the main character, Leslie Knope, in a debate for a spot in city council. While in the episode of Veep “Election Night,” portrays character, Selina Meyer, who is running President of the United States and the episode shows the headquarters for her campaign and their reactions to the election night. The main difference within the two shows is the support that each leading ladies have along their campaign for government, whether it’s for something small like city councilor or the highest position in office like President of the United States. The support for candidate Knope is overwhelming. Her co-workers, but mainly friends bend over backwards for her to make sure her debate runs smoothly and asks for nothing in return. They set up a debate viewing party, help her write her speech, and are encouraging. For candidate Meyer, it seems like the exact opposite. Everyone on Meyer’s campaign seems to only be helping her for their own political gain. Throughout the rest of the show, the moment it appears that Meyer will fail, everyone on her team tries to bail and get a new job.  Each person appears to get along, however it is nothing like support in Parks and Recreation. This shows the different views among the American politics with the support of other government employees for a certain candidate and how it is perceived by two different texts. 

Not only is there a definitive difference among the support for each candidate, but the difference among the candidates themselves is evident. Leslie Knope consistently addresses her perseverance into making her town better albeit against her townspeople’s wishes. The people in her town constantly vote against her ideas, even though her ideas push to make her town better. Although they push against Knope, each time she fights back regardless of the hate she gets. Opposite to Knope, Selina Meyer tries her best to appear put together in the public eye. She consistently talks about how she thinks the American people are ignorant and only tries to help them when she is under fire from the media. She shows the different side to government employees that only care about their public image and Leslie Knope shows the side of a government employee that actually cares about the people they oversee and works towards their best interest. This shows an important difference within the two shows Parks and Recreation and Veep and how government officials are perceived by their peers. 

With the American government has been perceived in a negative light for the past couple of years, it is hard to ignore who are government officials. There are certain views to American politics, one being positive and working towards making the best of their position, not caring about their own personal gain. The other shows the negative side with the government employees only caring about how to work up the chain of command and they disregard towards the people they are supposed to lead. This is important to see how film and television view the American political system and how they show the hopefulness of the American government officials with the show Parks and Recreation and the narcissism among the officials in Veep. It is important for the viewers of these shows to not only enjoy the comedy within them, but also make up their own minds about the government which could potentially help the American government in the future. 