Our country was in a frenzy earlier this month as Congress battled over the budget for the rest of the fiscal year. Democrats and Republicans agreed on a resolution at the last minute, luckily, and the government remains up and running. However, the severity of the situation has left a stain on the collective American mind.

If Congress had continued to bicker for a mere two more hours, the U.S. government would have shut down, leaving many government workers unpaid and many services delayed. The last time a government shutdown occurred was in 1995, during Bill Clinton’s presidency.

Many causes of the 1995 shutdown are uncannily similar to the events that occurred this time. Partisan politics heavily impeded the budget bill in both instances — a recurrent theme that only worsens with each congressional session.

The rivalry between Democrats and Republicans is one solidified by issues and time. Decades of animosity between the two parties affect our country negatively by stunting government progress and effectiveness.

Think about it like this: Two children both want to play with the same Lego set. One wants to build a castle, but the other wants to build a spaceship. The two argue over what they should build and start tossing the blocks at each other, waiting for the other to surrender to his or her preferred structure. All the while, the pair make a horrendous mess of their play area, and the parents are nowhere to be found.

And that’s our how the government is currently operating — as if this is Legoland.

Don’t get me wrong; I know political parties exist for a reason. Though it seems like now it’s more important to force partisan ideologies on constituents than it is to actually represent them.

We support political parties with our votes because we believe in what they represent. But when politicians are only interested in reelections, power and imposing their own values and beliefs, they can’t represent anyone other than themselves.

The fight over where and what to cut from the budget has taken an extraordinary amount of time and has brought government to the brink of shutdown. Yet there is still no one who is happy with the results. Disagreement continues over this year’s federal budget, and it will surely spill over into the 2012 budget debate.

And in all of this partisan Lego-tossing, the voice of Americans is nowhere to be heard.

Though my youth may inherently render me naïve, I am of voting age. My voice, and the voice of every American, regardless of how quiet, should be factored into Congress’ decisions for the country.

As far as budgeting goes, it is important to cut back on spending as our budget deficit continues to grow to astronomical heights. Understandably, that’s going to require compromise on both sides, which will be difficult, and in some cases, painful. But the fact that our elected representatives apparently require the pressure of a government shutdown in order to get them to agree on a budget for the fiscal year at the last minute is disconcerting.

What we need is a better system that’s not so black and white, left and right. What we need is a way to get things done while still retaining some sort of political integrity. This system of childish back-and-forth selfishness is inefficient and does not reflect well on our nation’s elected officials.