I worry that democracy is going out of style in America. I hear people from all parts of the political spectrum suggest that our election system is broken. I also hear that our elections produce “dangerous” leaders. For every Democrat who despises Trump, there seems to be a Republican who hates Biden, AOC, Nancy Pelosi, and a host of others.
If the electoral system cannot produce leaders and policies that America needs, is it broken? Is there a better system out there that solves the problem by reducing or eliminating democracy and replacing it with “wise, smart, leadership?”
My thinking about democracy this past week was prompted by news that the pandemic might be making a comeback. Like many of us, I worry about the “Delta Variant” of the Coronavirus. Because too many have chosen not to get vaccinated, infections and hospitalization rates are on the rise in several states. Efforts to encourage vaccinations are failing, and the Biden administration and various governors are searching for answers.
A friend of mine, a Democrat, discussed the issue with me last week. We were on the same page in recognizing the risk of a resurgence of the pandemic, but then my friend suggested that “the government” should just force reluctant people to get the vaccine. My friend was not suggesting that armed troops knock on doors but that through economic or other means, pressure be put on vaccine doubters. “Maybe they should lose their jobs,” he offered, “or, what if Maryland cancelled their license to drive.”
I was not ready for these suggestions. I was floored. I had just read that Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), arguably the worst person currently serving in Congress, referenced “brownshirts” in comments opposing government initiatives to strongly encourage people to get the vaccine. I have no respect for her, but setting limits on how far government can or should go is not easy.
My friend, for example, talked about China. He credited the country’s “strong government” with preventing the spread of the virus there. Then he gratuitously commented that he had no problem with Beijing’s takeover of Hong Kong and said he didn’t care about Taiwan. China was booming economically, he argued, largely because the “noise” that democracy produces has been eliminated. He had no problems with apartment doors being welded shut in Wuhan if that’s what it takes to stop a pandemic.
I am still friends with my friend but won’t be talking politics or pandemic with him again if I can help it.
My discussions of how to win the fights against COVID-19 and other topics have convinced me that doubts about democracy—about the right of people to govern themselves and place limits on the authority of the government over them—are on the rise. That should worry all of us.
Our current debate over voting rights is an example. Republicans argue that voting is “cheapened” by facilitating it. The theory is that a voter who is too lazy or disorganized to register to vote and arrange to vote on election day somehow is not as good a voter as one who does. That’s a problem. It also ignores the reality that some of us have more difficulty getting to the polls than others.
Basically, the Republican argument implies that some people should not be voting. Where have you heard that before? Have you read about literacy tests? How about limiting voting to property owners? Or excluding woman or people of color from voting on the assumption that they “don’t know enough” to vote?
All these past excuses to concentrate power in the hands of a white, male majority are now history, but the thinking behind them remains. Consider the arguments made against the For the People Act, proposed by Democrats as a means of expanding voting rights. The bill isn’t perfect, but some Republicans suggest it is nothing more than a power grab that would result in more Democrats being elected because they assume that more voting favors the Democrats.
Another suggestion is that less sophisticated voters, often understood by those questioning democracy, can be “bribed” into voting for Democrats. The assumption here is that these “less sophisticated” voters will vote for Democrats because they want more government benefits. How those benefits are paid for, how the country defends itself, and everything else, supposedly doesn’t matter.
The “bribery” argument is a curious one to anyone familiar with tax lobbying in Washington. Do you know of anyone who religiously votes for whatever candidate promises to lower taxes the most?
If I am right that support for democracy is on the decline, this is a dangerous situation for many reasons. But the worst reason is the belief that a “strong leader” who is smarter than everyone else can make decisions about how the country should be run better than the people themselves. Xi does that in China, and even Vladimir Putin has a few misguided admirers here in the U.S.
So, what to do? First, those of us who think that America has succeeded because of democracy rather than despite it, need to get vocal when we see democracy doubted. Second, we need to support the broadest possible participation in our elections, even if it results in the election of politicians who are not our first (or second, or third) choice. Third, we need to step up efforts to support laws that support our constitutional democracy. This means that those responsible for January 6 must be held accountable.
We may be closer to losing our democracy than most of us would like to admit. Freedom isn’t free. We need to fight for democracy, or we will lose it.
J.E. Dean of Oxford is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, birds, and occasionally goldendoodles.
Thomas Malone says
Right on!
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece. I’m glad you agreed with it.
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Mr. Dean, Your democrat friend is a very ignorant and dangerous individual,as you know. Hold on a second. You think this Marjorie Taylor Greene is a worse House member than Andy Harris? How could you even consider that possible?
Those responsible for Jan. 6 are being held responsible. They have been hunted down like rabid dogs with some placed in solitary confinement. Not one had a firearm on that day.
I would like to see some of the monsters in Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles held responsible for the carnage of their fellow people of color. Funny, Jen Psaki and Joe Biden never seem to mention this little problem. It’s the white supremacists, don’t you know.
Good old Joe also has a problem assigning priorities. He called Jan 6 the worst attack on the U.S. in history. Just two days ago, he said the “voting rights” matter was the worst attack on Democracy since the Civil War. So many historic moments recently!! Our first female vice president of color with an empty headed school girl cackle!! So many firsts!!!! Where is my flag?
Deirdre LaMotte says
Your comment is outrageous. This was an insurrection to stop the approval of an elected President because the
Baby-in-Chief was crying about losing. Pick your side, Mr. Schaare. Democracy or Autocracy; it is that easy.
If one is Republican or Democrat or Independent, it does not matter; you either want to live in a nation with
free elections or not. Perhaps having a Republican win dispute the voter’s wishes is desirable? Move to another
country, because we here will fight for the people’s choice (as long as Russia had no influence, right?)
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Deirdre, Thank you, once again, for your kind words. I choose Democracy, not this tottering old fool Biden. Gee, gosh, Joe demands that any high school athlete, born a boy, can identify as a boy and whip the female athletes, denying many of them athletic scholarships. This is fascism. Under cover of night, tens of thousands of illegal immigrants are being disappeared into the United States. Illegal and fascist.
Inviting the United Nations to study, and prepare a report on racism and white supremacy here in this country. No authority to do so, fascist.
Going to Philadelphia and telling one whopper lie after another about how people of color are not allowed to vote with new State laws. One lie after another. No person of color is being denied access to the polls. You simply repeat lies.
Biden and Shumah, and Harris applaud the Dem state legislators who fled Texas to deny a quorum for a vote as “heros” and “patriots”. Democracy? These cowards fled in order to STOP democracy. Fascism.
Oh, one more thing, how dare you suggest I leave the country! I am needed here to provide some truth and balance to the lies of the left.
Joe Biden tells the American sheeple that white supremacy is our greatest domestic threat. Let me assure you, Deirdre, not a single one of the murdering monsters that slaughter 3 and 4 and 80 year old people of color every day in our cities, wear a white hood. Please address this, Deirdre, for our team of “dumb and dumber” in power certainly never will.
When I hear your “fellow travelers” say” black people have no internet access, they don’t know how to use the internet, they don’t know where to vote, “etc. And so forth, this is the bigotry of low expectations. In other words, these good libs are saying that black people are simply too stupid to vote. There, a free translation for you..
Deirdre LaMotte says
You lost any shred of credibility with “tottering old fool Biden”. Who are you trying to fool?
Biden has not focused much on cultural issues as his key agenda items are all bread and butter economic
policies. Meanwhile, we have the GOP who desperately need to make cultural issues into big political issues:
critical race theory and transgender sports. Neither of these have hardly mattered to voters until they were
elevated by right-wing media and the Republican Party (one in the same). They play into the dark regions of weak American minds. Rubes.
Stephen Schaare says
Remember what Judge Judy Sheindlin says;”If it doesn’t make sense, it’s probably not true”.
John Dean says
Thanks for reading the piece.
Yes, Marjorie Taylor Greene is worse than Andy Harris. I would also prefer having Harris represent the Eastern Shore than Matt Gaetz.
Hopefully, all three will be defeated for re-election in 2024.
Bob Parker says
The argument that ” less sophisticated” voters do not/may not deserve to vote is appalling. How does one identify an “unsophisticated” voter? Education, occupation, rural vs urban, interest in “the arts” vs sports or even hunting? By some measures one might conclude that Dems are more likely to be “sophisticated” while GOP voters are “unsophisticated”. Those who make this argument, however, identify any voter opposed to the official is, by definition, “unsophisticated”. Let’s call these arguments what they are, voter suppression designed to keep the other guys’voters from voting noatter how “sophisticated” theyay be.
Jess Haberman says
Mr. Schaare has brought up black on black violence a number of times. And he is right; there is an epidemic of gun violence in the US and blacks are overrepresented in the category of homicides. Since Sandy Hook, when a white young man, in 2012, murdered 20 children between six and seven years old, I’ve lost hope that Americans have the will to address this issue. Furthermore, the majority of deaths by gun in the US are caused by white men and white men are most often the victims. So what – what’s that got to do with the attempted insurrection on January 6th by white supremacists?