Politics is a common theme in the animated sitcom The Simpsons, and this phenomenon has had some crossover with real American politics. The local politics of the fictional town Springfield feature prominently in many episodes, and character archetypes represent different political concepts within a community. The show satirizes ideas across the political spectrum, though overall it is described as having left-wing and anti-establishment bias. Politicians have been caricatured in many episodes of The Simpsons, including an episode following President George H. W. Bush in response to his public criticism of the show. References to the show also feature in real-world politics. The Simpsons addresses contemporary issues including substance abuse, the economy, education, environmentalism, gun politics, health politics, LGBTQ rights, immigration, and criminal justice. Episodes of the show have also caused international political dispute for its portrayal of foreign countries.
Political systems
The setting of Springfield has developed as a microcosm of local government that can be used by writers and critics to reflect and comment on real-world political issues. The show features the democratic process in local politics, including elections and town hall meetings. National politics of the United States has also been featured on the show. In the season 3 episode "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington", Lisa visits Washington, D.C. and witnesses a congressman taking a bribe while expressing sexist beliefs. This episode explores faith in democracy, considering both its weaknesses and how it corrects them.
Recurring characters are also used to serve as archetypes for specific political beliefs or are used to explore certain issues. Mayor Quimby is the most prominent politician character in the show, openly engaging in corruption and promiscuity while shirking leadership. Mr. Burns is portrayed as an evil scheming businessman who serves himself ahead of others. Lionel Hutz is used to portray a shyster attorney.
Political campaigns
Political campaigns and elections are featured in several episodes of The Simpsons. The season 2 episode "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" features Mr. Burns running for governor against a popular incumbent with the intention of relaxing safety regulations for his business. The career politician is portrayed as a favorable alternative that cares about the state in comparison to Mr. Burns, who only seeks office for his own benefit. The season 6 episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts" features a mayoral election, pitting incumbent Mayor Quimby against Sideshow Bob, a man who had attempted to kill Bart Simpson. The Simpsons help Quimby in his reelection campaign, but Sideshow Bob is elected. Sideshow Bob uses his political power to make life difficult for the Simpsons, but it is discovered that he won through electoral fraud. The season 9 episode "Trash of the Titans" follows Homer Simpson as he runs for the office of sanitation commissioner, portraying him as an everyman who is unqualified for the role.
Political stance
The Simpsons has been praised for its tendency to satirize ideas across the political spectrum, though the writers have shown support for progressive ideas and some commentators say that the show overall expresses a left-wing bias. It has also been accused of an anti-establishment bias, portraying government and large corporations as evil entities that take advantage of the citizens. In The Simpsons, politicians are often corrupt, Reverend Lovejoy is dismissive to churchgoers, and the local police force is both incompetent and corrupt. Despite this, there have also been occurrences in which career politicians have been portrayed as more competent or reasonable than populist or outsider candidates, such as Homer's opponent when running for sanitation commissioner or Mr. Burns' opponent in a gubernatorial election.
Real-world politics
The Simpsons has alluded to politicians throughout its run, sometimes resulting in media attention. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton were both parodied multiple times in the series. The season 8 episode "Treehouse of Horror VII" parodied the 1996 presidential election by presenting both Clinton and Bob Dole as evil alien imposters, insisting that voters must still choose one of them because of a two-party system. The season 11 episode "Bart to the Future" received attention for mentioning a future Trump presidency 16 years before it occurred. Then-incumbent Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair voiced himself in a cameo appearance in the season 15 episode "The Regina Monologues". United States Secretary of Commerce Robert Reich appeared as himself in the season 33 episode "Poorhouse Rock". New York mayor Bill de Blasio made two appearances as himself on the show. Arnold Schwarzenegger is portrayed as the president in The Simpsons Movie.
The show has also been referenced in politics. Senator Ted Cruz incorporated references to the show as part of his political identity despite strong backlash from writers and cast members. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was the subject of controversy after using an image of Lisa Simpson on Twitter in a way that critics said was contrary to the character's beliefs. Several phrases coined by The Simpsons have played a role in political lexicon. "Saying the quiet part loud" was popularized as a political expression following its use in the season 6 episode "A Star Is Burns". The derogatory term for the French, "cheese eating surrender monkeys", has been adopted by conservative personalities, including Jonah Goldberg in particular.
Issues
Constitutional law
The Constitution of the United States is the subject of jokes in The Simpsons. The season 7 episode "The Day the Violence Died" includes a parody of Schoolhouse Rock! explaining Constitutional amendments as well as federal copyright law. The season 8 episode "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" parodies the Prohibition era that began with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment. In the season 10 episode "Make Room for Lisa", Homer demonstrates total ignorance of the Bill of Rights, and he loses his Eighth Amendment protections from cruel and unusual punishment after mistakenly wiping the words off of the document. The season 15 episode "Bart-Mangled Banner" features the Simpsons fighting for their First Amendment right to freedom of speech after Bart accidentally moons the flag of the United States. In the season 19 episode "E Pluribus Wiggum", Lisa objects to the presidential nomination of an eight-year-old, but Bart explains that the Constitution no longer applies due to the Patriot Act.
Economy
Economics and business feature throughout The Simpsons. Many characters engage in business ventures and get-rich-quick schemes, and many episodes focus on how these ventures are economically unsound. The season 4 episode "Marge vs. the Monorail" follows a conman that convinces the town to invest in his monorail against their own interest. The season 5 episode "$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)" addressed the legalized gambling debate, showing the casino as a positive investment in the town but also portraying the harms of problem gambling. The season 14 episode "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" follows Krusty the Clown as a Congressional candidate running to solve a negative externality caused by business behavior. The season 19 episode "Husbands and Knives" addresses monopoly and competition when Comic Book Guy abuses his store's lack of competition until a new store is opened to compete.
Several episodes address labor issues at Homer's workplace. In the season 4 episode "Last Exit to Springfield", the employees strike for their dental plan. In the season 17 episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore", Mr. Burns relocates the business to India, but he finds the move too expensive after Homer teaches the workers to be lazy. In the season 21 episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", Mr. Burns is forced to reinstate the provision of donuts for his employees to retain them.
Taxation features in some episodes. The season 9 episode "The Trouble with Trillions" focuses on taxation and the Internal Revenue Service. In this episode, Homer cheats on his taxes and mistakenly brings an audit upon himself, but he cooperates with the IRS by helping them reclaim money owed by his boss.
Education
The Simpsons addresses issues in public schools through its two main school-age characters, Bart and Lisa Simpson, as they attend Springfield Elementary School. Bart is a troublemaker that continually defaces school property, while Lisa is an ideal student that is unsatisfied with her schooling. Teachers in the show are portrayed as incompetent and deeply flawed; they lack faith in the students' capacity and are accordingly uninterested in supporting them. Other students in the school play the roles of simple archetypes, such as Nelson Muntz as the bully, Ralph Wiggum as the dumb student, and Martin Prince as the teacher's pet. The town of Springfield is portrayed as anti-intellectual, and the school is given little support from the community. The school is often a setting for themes of authority and rebellion, with Principal Skinner attempting to keep order in the school amidst Bart's misbehavior. Standardized testing is another common subject of satire in the show. The show also considers many other types of schooling, including preschool, military school, prep school, Catholic school, homeschool, and student-centered gifted school.
The show portrays and satirizes many aspects of school life. The season 2 episode "Lisa's Substitute" features a positive portrayal of a teacher when a substitute teacher inspires Lisa and serves as a positive role model in contrast with Homer. The season 3 episode "Separate Vocations" follows Lisa's declining school performance after a career aptitude test suggests she become a homemaker. She steals the teacher's editions of the school textbooks to prove that the teachers are not capable of teaching without them. The season 6 episode "The PTA Disbands" follows a teacher's strike, presenting the situation as harmful to students when the school is forced to hire unqualified substitutes. Environmentalism is most prominently addressed in the season 12 episode "Lisa the Tree Hugger", in which she develops a crush on an environmental activist and begins tree sitting. Other episodes centering on her environmentalism include the season 21 episode "The Squirt and the Whale", in which she tends to a beached whale; the season 8 episode "The Old Man and the Lisa", in which she attempts to teach environmentalism to Mr. Burns; and the season 14 episode "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky", in which she causes a city-wide power outage to combat light pollution.
Lisa's environmentalism is portrayed in contrast to apathy or hostility from other characters. The Simpsons has won several Environmental Media Awards for its treatment of the topic. When creating the show, Groening chose to make Homer work at a nuclear power plant to provide opportunity for environmental commentary.
Health
The Simpsons has made jokes relating to power held by doctors, including one episode in which Dr. Hibbert expresses support for the pharmaceutical industry while wearing merchandise from several major pharmaceutical companies. In the season 4 episode "Homer's Triple Bypass", Homer attempts to defraud a health insurance provider by giving a false report of his medical history, but he has a heart attack while doing so. In the season 13 episode "Sweets and Sour Marge", Marge applies legal pressure to prevent the sale of sugary food in Springfield, but the ruling proves unpopular and turns Marge's family against her.
Drugs
thumb|[[Duff Beer based on the fictional beer brand of The Simpsons]]
The Simpsons features characters engaging in non-recommended health behaviors related to drugs, such as smoking cigarettes and excessive alcohol consumption. Beer is common in the show, making up about nine percent of all food or drink shown in the first nine seasons.
Cannabis use is portrayed through the stoner character of school bus driver Otto Mann. It was the main focus of the season 13 episode "Weekend at Burnsie's", in which Homer is prescribed medical cannabis. The episode portrays the drug as beneficial to Homer and demonstrates ways in which it improves his life, though he also suffers from short-term memory loss and chooses not to continue use of the drug to set an example for his children. The season 31 episode "Highway to Well" returns to the subject as several characters begin selling legal cannabis.
Several episodes concern prescription drugs. The season 16 episode "Midnight Rx" features characters traveling to Winnipeg to smuggle prescription drugs into the United States. Medication of children is the main focus of the season 11 episode "Brother's Little Helper", in which Bart is made to go on a new ADHD medication against his wishes. The drug is portrayed negatively, culminating in Bart stealing a tank as part of a paranoid delusion, though the episode recognized Ritalin as a legitimate alternative.
LGBT issues
LGBT themes and issues are explored in several episodes. In an interview, Matt Groening expressed his friendship and support to homosexuals, saying that "gay men are starved for positive portrayals of lasting love". The first appearance of a character implied to be gay was in the season 2 episode "Simpson and Delilah", in which the character Carl (voiced by Harvey Fierstein) kisses Homer. The season 8 episode "Homer's Phobia" was the first episode to entirely revolve around homosexual themes. The episode features the gay character John (voiced by John Waters), who is not immediately identifiable as a gay man and does not conform to the typical gay stereotype. After initially being fond of John, Homer acts strongly against him when he finds out about his sexuality. Homer eventually accepts John for who he is. The episode won a GLAAD Media Award, with GLAAD calling the episode "a shining example of how to bring intelligent, fair and funny representations of our community onto television".
Two later episodes that explored LGBT issues were the season 14 episode "Three Gays of the Condo" and the season 16 episode "There's Something About Marrying". The former features Homer's time living with gay roommates, while the latter centered on the right for homosexuals to get married and included Marge's sister Patty coming out as a lesbian. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation described the latter episode as a "ray of light".
The character Waylon Smithers was presumed to be gay for much of the show's run and came out in the season 27 episode "The Burns Cage", in which he briefly dates Julio. Smithers is shown to have a passionate and deep love for Mr. Burns; as late as 2007, during the show's 18th season, Matt Groening and executive producer James L. Brooks wrote in an interview that Smithers, being focused on one particular individual, was not homosexual, but "Burns-sexual". Smithers had expressed feelings for Mr. Burns in several episodes prior to his coming out.
Immigration
The season 7 episode "Much Apu About Nothing" follows the immigration debate as Mayor Quimby blames higher taxes on illegal immigrants, and the city undergoes a period of xenophobia targeting foreign residents. It demonstrates how the rhetoric and possible deportation affects Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a character revealed in this episode to be in the United States on an expired visa. The episode presents the issue with a decidedly pro-immigrant stance. The season 20 episode "Coming to Homerica" revisits the immigration debate, with the plot following the residents of Springfield enlisting in a border patrol group and building a border barrier to deny entry to a Norwegian-American community.
Justice system
The mass appeal of The Simpsons allows it to influence perception of the American legal system by viewers. This may contribute to public misunderstanding and distrust of the legal system, as fictional legal systems are typically portrayed in a way that is inaccurate and disproportionately negative. The show expresses ideas of legal realism, a criticism of the legal system that emphasizes the fallibility of humans. The police department of Springfield is shown to be deeply incompetent and corrupt, with Mayor Quimby at one point handing Chief Wiggum a kickback during a televised press conference. The local news is shown to contribute to criminal issues by feeding mass hysteria. In the season 5 episode "Homer the Vigilante", a citizen's patrol is organized, but it worsens the situation, suggesting that the current police system is superior to the alternative. The show similarly parodies judicial trials and courts. In the season two episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car", both Mr. Burns and the Simpsons freely make fraudulent claims in court after Burns hits Bart Simpson with his car. In the season 5 episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", Bart is forced to consider the moral dilemma of providing testimony, and the judge decides to illegally reopen the trial. The season 16 episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan" features the Simpsons visiting China. The episode is critical of the Chinese government, and it makes multiple references to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. These include a reference to Mao Zedong as "a little angel that killed 50 million people", a scene set up to resemble the Tank Man photo, and a plaque stating "Tien An Men Square: On this site, in 1989, nothing happened" in reference to the Chinese government's censorship of the topic. When Disney+ was released in Hong Kong in 2021, the episode was not made available. The season 10 episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo" was not aired on the Japanese network Wowow upon its release in 1999. The episode followed the Simpsons visiting Japan and featured a scene in which Homer engaged in a fight with the Emperor.
Lorenzo Pepe, former Justicialist Party congressman and president of the Perón Institute, said that "this type of program causes great harm, because the disappearances are still an open wound here". In an unprecedented decision, Fox decided not to air the episode in Latin America; in an e-mail sent later to the media, the network said that this decision was based on "the possibility that the episode would contribute to reopen wounds very painful to Argentina". The Federal Broadcasting Committee made it clear that the episode was not aired in Argentina by Fox's own choice. The board's exact words were: "What really hurt was the idea of the monkeys, the image that Rio de Janeiro was a jungle ... It's a completely unreal image of the city". The Brazilian president at that time, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, found it to be "a distorted vision of Brazilian reality". Rio de Janeiro had just spent millions promoting the city internationally. Producer James L. Brooks apologized to "the lovely city of Rio de Janeiro", adding that "if this does not settle the issue, Homer Simpson offers to fight with the Brazilian president on Celebrity Boxing". The line was first picked up and used predominantly by Republican politicians and publications. They were led, according to the British national newspaper The Guardian, by Jonah Goldberg, a popular columnist for the U.S. bi-weekly National Review and editor of their website National Review Online. Some argue the phrase's success reflects deep antipathy in the U.S. towards European countries, such as France, that oppose the U.S. in international forums.
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