Partisan Politics - Everything does not look best in black and white.
Issue:
Partisanship is playing a particularly destructive role in U.S. politics today, rendering the U.S. Congress virtually impotent and impeding national progress on a host of issues. The historic roles of negotiation and compromise that have for so long served the nation's ability to advance through legislation despite the divergent goals of its population are now rigorously suppressed by rigid adherence to absolutist ideologies. This extreme partisanship stymies national progress.
Deception:
Partisanship is purported to be expected in a democracy, a normal and necessary part of democratic debate. This is deception.
Reality:
The media and Congress speak of this extreme partisanship as though it is normal in a democracy, is a mystery that only time can solve and even that it's a new order we must accept. What they don't tell us is that it serves the media well by providing fodder for great news stories and it serves the minority or opposition party (whether it's Democrat or Republican) by substituting for effective compromise. It also provides cover for the majority party, allowing them to blame the opposition for legislation the majority did not want in the first place.
Several key factors contribute to this extremely partisan atmosphere:
• The U.S. Senate is operating under onerous rules that are neither desirable nor necessary but that have allowed this partisanship to flourish, particularly the filibuster rule.
• The U.S. Senate is disproportionately representative of a very small portion of the population that often allows minority power over the majority.
• The U.S. House of Representatives has been stripped of its ability to compromise by the rigid adherence of many Republican members to equally rigid party orthodoxies enforced under threat of election defeat by their own party (a practice not unusual in any party but not usually as extreme as currently practiced in the Republican party).
• Congress is populated by a majority of members who look out for the interest of their major campaign contributors and their party's bosses rather than the good of their constituents or the nation.
Resolution:
It's easy to suggest that citizens should demand better of their Congressional representatives but it's not so easy to expect voters to take a hard look at the conduct of their representatives and whether they make efforts to negotiate and compromise, rather than simply stonewall legislation and presidential appointments with which they disagree. Yet it is necessary for voters to do because Congress has lost site of its responsibility to be responsible.
There are two steps that Congress itself can take to reign in its own dysfunction:
1. Congress should pass legislation to bar private financing of candidates for all offices. There is no possible way to have accountability in politics when members of Congress can take money from private sources whether these are individuals, corporations or special-interest groups and spend it on their campaigns. The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Communications Commission opened the door to unbridled and unaccountable financing of politicians - allowing for hidden influences to advance or defeat legislation. (See "IRS Scandal" for further detail.)
2. Congress should eliminate the filibuster rule which allows the minority to effectively change the number of Senators needed to pass legislation from a simple majority vote (51 votes in the full Senate) to a "super-majority" vote (60 votes in the full Senate). The fillibuster allows one or more members to stonewall votes on legislation. It is not constitutionally mandated but was born out of an interest to give the minority an opportunity to stop votes under a runaway majority. It unfortunately serves instead to supersede the constitutionally-mandated processes of governance; this situation has worsened in recent years as it has been further corrupted to make the filibuster easier to conduct. Although both sides are hesitant to part with this rule as a tool for their use when in the minority, the filibuster serves only to stave off the inevitable. Only by reaching the inevitable can we effectively deal with it - and the sooner the better. At the very least, the filibuster must be returned to its original form that placed the responsibility for conducting a filibuster firmly on the physical presence and energy of legislators rather than assigning it to proxies.
What we can do is encourage our Congress members to move legislation and appointments forward through compromise and greater acceptance of majority rule. The minority's right to alter or obstruct the majority will is to be respected, of course, but it should not become so entrenched as to effectively shut down Congress - as the Republicans in the House of Representatives are doing now.
Hold your representatives accountable not just for their politics but for the manner in which they conduct themselves in the political process. It's not enough that you may agree with your representatives positions on issues; it's vitally important that you hold them accountable to a truly representative, fairly conducted legislative process.
Contact information for U.S. Congress members.
Related Essay: Republican Rule.
Partisanship is playing a particularly destructive role in U.S. politics today, rendering the U.S. Congress virtually impotent and impeding national progress on a host of issues. The historic roles of negotiation and compromise that have for so long served the nation's ability to advance through legislation despite the divergent goals of its population are now rigorously suppressed by rigid adherence to absolutist ideologies. This extreme partisanship stymies national progress.
Deception:
Partisanship is purported to be expected in a democracy, a normal and necessary part of democratic debate. This is deception.
Reality:
The media and Congress speak of this extreme partisanship as though it is normal in a democracy, is a mystery that only time can solve and even that it's a new order we must accept. What they don't tell us is that it serves the media well by providing fodder for great news stories and it serves the minority or opposition party (whether it's Democrat or Republican) by substituting for effective compromise. It also provides cover for the majority party, allowing them to blame the opposition for legislation the majority did not want in the first place.
Several key factors contribute to this extremely partisan atmosphere:
• The U.S. Senate is operating under onerous rules that are neither desirable nor necessary but that have allowed this partisanship to flourish, particularly the filibuster rule.
• The U.S. Senate is disproportionately representative of a very small portion of the population that often allows minority power over the majority.
• The U.S. House of Representatives has been stripped of its ability to compromise by the rigid adherence of many Republican members to equally rigid party orthodoxies enforced under threat of election defeat by their own party (a practice not unusual in any party but not usually as extreme as currently practiced in the Republican party).
• Congress is populated by a majority of members who look out for the interest of their major campaign contributors and their party's bosses rather than the good of their constituents or the nation.
Resolution:
It's easy to suggest that citizens should demand better of their Congressional representatives but it's not so easy to expect voters to take a hard look at the conduct of their representatives and whether they make efforts to negotiate and compromise, rather than simply stonewall legislation and presidential appointments with which they disagree. Yet it is necessary for voters to do because Congress has lost site of its responsibility to be responsible.
There are two steps that Congress itself can take to reign in its own dysfunction:
1. Congress should pass legislation to bar private financing of candidates for all offices. There is no possible way to have accountability in politics when members of Congress can take money from private sources whether these are individuals, corporations or special-interest groups and spend it on their campaigns. The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Communications Commission opened the door to unbridled and unaccountable financing of politicians - allowing for hidden influences to advance or defeat legislation. (See "IRS Scandal" for further detail.)
2. Congress should eliminate the filibuster rule which allows the minority to effectively change the number of Senators needed to pass legislation from a simple majority vote (51 votes in the full Senate) to a "super-majority" vote (60 votes in the full Senate). The fillibuster allows one or more members to stonewall votes on legislation. It is not constitutionally mandated but was born out of an interest to give the minority an opportunity to stop votes under a runaway majority. It unfortunately serves instead to supersede the constitutionally-mandated processes of governance; this situation has worsened in recent years as it has been further corrupted to make the filibuster easier to conduct. Although both sides are hesitant to part with this rule as a tool for their use when in the minority, the filibuster serves only to stave off the inevitable. Only by reaching the inevitable can we effectively deal with it - and the sooner the better. At the very least, the filibuster must be returned to its original form that placed the responsibility for conducting a filibuster firmly on the physical presence and energy of legislators rather than assigning it to proxies.
What we can do is encourage our Congress members to move legislation and appointments forward through compromise and greater acceptance of majority rule. The minority's right to alter or obstruct the majority will is to be respected, of course, but it should not become so entrenched as to effectively shut down Congress - as the Republicans in the House of Representatives are doing now.
- Be aware of the track record of your Congressional representatives and what they do to advance legislation and appointments. Many voters are familiar to some degree with their representative's politics but this is only part of the story. Ask yourself: do they regularly prevent items from even progressing to a vote on the chamber floor? Do they march in lockstep with their party rather than thinking and voting for themselves on behalf of their constituents?
- Contact them regularly - this can make a difference - and let them know you expect more. Repeated stonewalling of legislation and appointments serves no one well. It stops the process of governance in its tracks.
Hold your representatives accountable not just for their politics but for the manner in which they conduct themselves in the political process. It's not enough that you may agree with your representatives positions on issues; it's vitally important that you hold them accountable to a truly representative, fairly conducted legislative process.
Contact information for U.S. Congress members.
Related Essay: Republican Rule.