This Is “Democracy”?
Nov. 5, 2023
This is what democracy is about, crowed several ringleaders of the recent unpleasantness in the U.S. House of Representatives.
For one, the new Speaker himself said of his election: “Democracy is messy sometimes, but it is our system.”
Well slow down, Mr. Speaker. If you believe what happened in the House is democracy at work, you better go back to civics class.
It’s democracy when in January a small band of ultraconservatives hold hostage the large majority of their fellow Republicans, not to mention the House as a whole, by denying their votes to Kevin McCarthy until he coughs up a bunch of promises and concessions?
It’s democracy when eight of these ultraconservatives buck the wishes of the majority of their Republican brethren to orchestrate the subsequent ouster of McCarthy?
It’s democracy when Rep. Steve Scalise wins majority support within the Republican caucus to replace McCarthy, but has to withdraw when in contravention of congressional tradition, the loser won’t throw his support to the winner? And the loser then gets rewarded by becoming the proposed Speaker, only for him to lose once again on the House floor?
It’s democracy when in the next go-round Republicans select Rep. Tom Emmer as their candidate, only to have him withdraw because once again the losers won’t go along with the wishes of the majority?
In the end, the hell-raisers bullied their colleagues into electing an ultraconservative as Speaker of the House. The path they took was dysfunctional, divisive and disregarded the basic rule of democracy. The first two of these have been amply described, but it’s the third that could cause long-lasting damage.
Beyond the overall axiom of the people, by the people, for the people, nothing about how we conduct ourselves is more basic than the majority rules. This simple and clearcut principle applies to our elections and how governing bodies operate. It applies when the U.S. Supreme Court hands down 5-to-4 decisions that carry far-reaching implications. It even gets applied to many instances of everyday life.
It works because people accept that the majority rules, even when it hurts. That is up until now.
The new Speaker’s own involvement in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election result has been well documented. As it turns out, that was just the start of what is becoming a pattern.
Rather than respect the process and accept the results, a certain cadre of elected officials are willing to do whatever they can to subvert and resist majority rule until they get their way. Niceties such as honoring the time-honored norms and traditions of Congress or abiding by the wishes of their colleagues are of little concern.
Our Common Purpose strives to strike a balance between the two political parties. Generally speaking, neither has it entirely right and neither is entirely wrong. Our common purpose as a country rests somewhere between the two.
However, in this case there is nothing to be shared. The dynamic we are witnessing, this new order of things, is entirely one-sided. The militant wing of the Republican Party is threatening to turn democracy on its ear.
Sorry, Mr. Speaker, the lesson your backers are demonstrating is not democracy in action. It’s how to disregard democracy’s most basic rule except when it suits them. That’s not our system. It’s a threat to our system.
These outliers might be regarded as heroes by some. The rest of us should regard them as a dangerous menace, both for the damage they have done to the House and for the tactics they are teaching others at all levels of government and across all of society.
–Richard Gilman