The psychology term is now a political expression as Americans across party lines report feeling powerless

“Biden Is Trying to Jolt Us Out of Learned Helplessness About Trump,” read the headline of a New York Times op-ed in January, which argued that “[Donald] Trump’s exhausting provocations” were wearing out voters who saw opposing the former president’s re-election as a “doomed project”.

Six months later, the mood was slightly more optimistic. Joe Biden had dropped out of the presidential race and Kamala Harris had taken his spot as the Democratic nominee. “National Democrats seem to have shaken off their perennial sense of learned helplessness,” read a July op-ed from the Charlotte Observer.