Right On: Is democracy dead?

February 7, 2018 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — “Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” – Winston Churchill

So is it time to try another form? A surprising number and diversity of observers seem to think American democracy is on its last legs.

They see a variety of issues sapping democracy’s vitality. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Start with gerrymandering – the process of drawing legislative district boundaries for partisan advantage – a Utah Republican art form.

Democratic-leaning urban Salt Lake City is split among Utah’s four congressional districts, each of which is heavily populated with Republican-leaning suburban, smaller town and rural voters. Unsurprisingly, we have four Republican congressional representatives.

From this conservative’s point of view that’s preferable to four Democrats. But my sense of fair play and balance tells me that our representatives don’t adequately reflect Utah voters.

I’d prefer a single, Salt Lake City-centered district and three other districts representing the rest of the state in some equitable way. Sure, Utah might have a Democrat in Congress at times. But that balance would better reflect our state’s voters.

So is gerrymandering legal? State legislatures establish both federal and state voting districts and the Supreme Court has never stepped in. But today the court is considering cases challenging Republican redistricting in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act coupled with various court cases resulted in a reverse discrimination mandate. Wherever feasible, states were required to create “majority minority” districts that effectively ensured blacks were a majority in some congressional districts.

I find that abhorrent. As Chief Justice John Roberts said, “The best way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair explains in the New York Times that in gerrymandered districts, candidates that win the majority party’s nomination usually win in the general election in both Great Britain and the U. S. This pushes would-be candidates to take positions that appeal to party activists who select nominees but not to the broader public.

As a result, politicians have been moving away from the center and instead taking hard line positions that appeal to their gerrymandered home districts but rarely lead to effective governing.

I have lamented the lack of centrist voices in our political dialog, voices that represent a substantial majority of our citizens.

Media partisanship is a second threat to democracy.

Some readers are old enough to remember the day when the news media truly felt a responsibility to report news in a fair and balanced way. They acted as the fourth estate, holding accountable the three branches of government. They put into action the words of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”

Today’s darkness is infectious.

Once again, Britain’s Tony Blair offers a timely insight. He notes:

“The media in many Western countries have become more partisan as conventional audiences shrivel and news organizations see the best commercial opportunity in roiling their most loyal viewers and connecting with their specific interests.”

Opinions today are largely shaped by the media sources we choose to follow. If Bernie Sanders says the sun will come up tomorrow, Fox News will begin its coverage with reasons why it might not.

The Hudson Institute’s Christopher DeMuth believes media proliferation has produced “more numerous political causes than a representative legislature can manage.” He says Congress has responded by offloading legislative activities onto the administrative state’s executive agencies, leaving its members free to “strut and fret on the national stage.”

We’ve had far too much executive agency legislation and far too much strutting in recent years.

Is money a threat to democracy? Jesse Unruh, former speaker of California’s House of Representatives, famously said “money is the mother’s milk of politics.”

Conservative Alan Keyes says:

“An elitist faction controls meaningful ballot access informally by imposing the view that no candidacy is ‘viable’ without massive money and media support. … So, though more people may cast a vote, an elitist clique controls … the options effectively available for their choice.”

The Trump and Clinton campaigns each spent well over a billion dollars.

Perhaps the most telling criticism is that government isn’t working well. In today’s world of rapid change, democracy seems slow, bureaucratic and weak.

Powerful interest groups stand in the way of substantial reform. Reforming our educational system is a recent example with teachers’ unions fighting change at every step.

People need better services and have higher expectations, but as any politician can tell you, they don’t want to pay more for them.

Philosopher Robert Hutchins said, “The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.”

Low voter turnout in recent years could be evidence of “apathy, indifference and undernourishment.”

That’s a daunting list of democracy’s problems. Are we doomed?

I believe our democracy is far from dead. But its preservation is up to each of us. To the extent that we educate ourselves, listen to reasonable voices from the other side, help choose candidates that represent our views, and express our opinions to elected officials, we strengthen our democracy.

Howard Sierer is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: hsierer@stgeorgeutah.com

Twitter: @STGnews