The Process is all We Have; Protect It at all Costs
Democracy is just a process. A way to make community decisions about how we want to live and govern ourselves. It doesn’t guarantee any particular outcome, not even its own survival.
If we want to keep democratic self-government, we have to protect all of the processes that make democracy possible, resisting ever present temptation to subvert the process to win or to achieve some other desirable goal.
From the beginning, political philosophers and practitioners understood the fragility of democracy since it requires personal involvement, a community vision, and self-restraint in the pursuit of power.
Graham Wallas, in Human Nature in Politics, written in 1908, said it well, “In politics, as in football, the tactics which prevail are not those which the makers of the rules intended, but those by which the players find that they can win; and men feel vaguely that the expedients by which their party is most likely to win may turn out not to be those by which the State is best governed.”
The vote is basic. Self-government is not self-government if everyone doesn’t have a say. But because the vote conveys power, those who want power are always tempted to influence or manipulate the outcome with rules that make it easier for “their” voters and more difficult for the opponent’s. Rules that say who can vote, when you can vote, where you can vote, how the votes are counted, and what disqualifies a vote, all make a difference, as does undermining public confidence in the integrity of the election.
Democracy is stronger when more people are engaged, when voting is easier and more convenient, when more people believe that their vote makes a difference, and when more people actually vote. Democracy is stronger when political competition is focused on persuading voters. Democracy is weaker when political competition is focused on limiting the vote.
Democracy works better when a cross section of people are willing to run for public office. Public confidence in the political system and politicians, never very high, is near zero. Individuals willing to put their own names on the ballot are rare. There is no quick or easy fix. The attitude is firmly fixed in the young.
I can remember as a newly elected state representative being invited to talk to a second-grade class. Thinking I would break the ice and establish some rapport, I asked those seven- and eight-year-olds if any wanted to be politicians when they grew up. Silence. Not a hand stirred. That was a bad start. So, I asked who did not want to be politicians when they grew up. There was instant enthusiasm, a bubbling response. Every hand shot up. They were certain they did not want to be politicians.
The strength of their response, their emotion, the already fixed knowledge in those children surprised me. Since then, whenever I talked to elementary or high school students I opened with the same question. The response was always similar.
Since the 1930s the American Legion has sponsored a program in almost all states for high school students “to learn about civic responsibility and leadership.” In a week-long summer program, the students create their own city, county and state level governments and figure out how politics works by doing.
Writing in a New York Times opinion piece, a recent participant in the Texas boys’ program described “a culture of stringent competition, chest thumping and underhanded tactics. We were teenage boys who’s only understanding of government was what we had seen adults doing. … I’ve decided I’m not going to commit my life to electoral politics … and I’ve grown increasingly cynical about the system itself.”
Democracy works better when there is a commitment to community, a willingness to accommodate other values, an acceptance of diversity, and a practice of civility.
Democracy is weakened and ultimately destroyed when opponents are vilified as enemies of the community who must be defeated.
We strengthen democracy when we heed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s advice, “Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Democracy depends on the willingness of leaders to exercise self-restraint. The “will to power” is in all of us. The Constitution seeks to curb it by separating powers and building in checks and balances. But the system is cumbersome and relies on independence and a willingness to say “no” to your own. Party leaders can be kept from going too far only by their own members. Criticism from the opposition carries no weight.
Elliot Richardson resigned as Attorney General rather than obey President Nixon’s order to fire the Watergate special prosecutor. Nixon resigned when Senate and House Republican leaders along with Barry Goldwater told him he no longer had the support of party members.
In the absence of that independence there is little besides self-restraint to limit a President. The law can be ignored with impunity. The White House Chief of Staff dismissed one relatively minor infraction – but the attitude is telling – with, “nobody outside the Beltway really cares”. The attitude that anything goes is reinforced and spreads. Fox News Channel personality Dana Perino said that “it doesn’t matter” that Trump is breaking the law because “by the time they have an investigation, this election is going to be over.”
Saturday Night Live captured the prevailing cynicism that in politics everything is permitted. “Now you know you can cheat. Why are you nerds still playing by the rules? Literally nothing matters anymore. Kamala dropped out because she ran out of money. Rob a bank! Do y’all want this or not?”
Democracy is not doing well. What now?
We can ourselves act in ways that strengthen democracy. We can respect the process as we pursue political goals. We can put more effort into changing voters’ minds and less into changing the rules to achieve desired ends.
Voters still have the last say. Persuasion has lasting effects. We have to figure out how to do it, because persuasion is the essential act of democracy.
Douglas Kane is the author of "Our Politics: Reflections on Political Life" published in 2019 by Southern Illinois University Press
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