the great reshuffle
In the wake of bitter partisanship during the majority of the Bush years, it’s been politically popular to tout bipartisanship for the campaign season. This is an interesting development considering that there are few substantively effective examples of bipartisanship. Representatives Tom Davis (R-VA) and Barney Frank (D-MA) sat down with fora.tv to discuss the current state of affairs in Congress.
The ever-outspoken Rep. Frank provides a different window into the frustration that is House politics. What struck me as particularly poignant was Frank’s belief that most people judge the legislature by the messiness of the process rather than the effectiveness of the results. This is not to say that things have been messy yet effective most recently, but that messiness doesn’t necessarily preclude productivity. The question that I draw from this is whether it makes sense to abandon the messiness of partisan politics if it means passing more legislation, even if it is less effective.
You may ask why things are so messy and polarized in the first place. The big catchphrase in legislative politics these days seems to be “permanent campaign”. Reps Davis and Frank agree that this atmosphere in which the party system is badly polarized stifles progress. In recent years, congressional districts have been redrawn to make for fewer competitive races by concentrating politically like-minded populations. This was done in a bipartisan fashion. The result is a republic less representative of its populace. Congressional Democrats can be combatively liberal and Republicans equally conservative because most don’t have to pander to a mixed audience at home. Combine this with the increased value of the few districts which are competitive, and the parties want nothing more than to besmirch the other’s credibility. This means that when there is not an overwhelming majority in both chambers of Congress, nothing gets done because the minority party wants to make the majority look incompetent by stonewalling legislation. When a clear majority does exist, legislation unrepresentative of the population can be passed too easily (see the early Bush years). Either way, the current state of affairs doesn’t make for a very representative government. Still, the onus is really on voters to demand that things change. When presidential candidates call for greater bipartisanship, it means very little. The incentive for legislators to work together won’t come because the President dictates it as such. What it will take is a redefinition or expansion of the party system to put the fear of being ousted back into our politicians. A more educated voting population would be great, but I think it’s more likely that we’ll see a shift in the parties that will shake-up the election cycle.
I once attended a presentation by a professor in the political science department at Cal Poly. She gave a grim forecast for the future of American democracy based on the effects of congressional redistricting. The sole hope she offered was in the growing number of Americans who register as independent during elections. As time has passed, I’ve come to view this as something more than hope, but rather inevitability. Our current political parties no longer represent cogent responses to the problems of the day. The Democrats look politically strong, but how long will it take for the diversity of interests to once again fracture the cohesiveness of the party once it comes to hammering out legislation? The Republicans are even more lost, offering nothing relevant to the challenges of tomorrow. In the meantime, state and local governments are picking up the slack and making good on the idea that government is by, of and for the people. On smaller scales, the better interest of society becomes more accessible to the individual. While regional governments are still far from being perfectly representative, things are improving out of necessity born from the federal government’s shortcomings. It is at these lower levels that new political identities are being formed and the future of American democracy will be decided. Looking forward, I am hopeful.
