This page contains links to recent blogs by Lincoln Mitchell
Tagged with: Constitution
We have treated the Constitution as a sacred text for so long that if we shatter that conceit, we are left with very little guidance for how to form a functioning, cohesive and democratic state, so we continue to accept the Constitution even as its democratic deficits directly immiserate so many of us. That is the American conundrum as we head into 2022. Happy New Year.
Americans are fond of citing the founders concerns about tyranny of the majority. However, the system as it is currently constructed not only prevents tyranny of the majority but also simply governance by the majority-or by anybody else.
impossible without rule of law, slavery, apartheid in the post-reconstruction south and even voter suppression today have all been legal in a technical sense. Unfortunately, while the law has helped strengthen democracy in the US, it has also been a handmaiden of efforts to limit democracy throughout American history. That is very possibly where we will again find ourselves in the days after the polls close in November when the future of American democracy could be determined in the courts, the legislatures, but also in the streets.
The idea of waiting for the voters to decide whether or not Donald Trump should be removed from office is appealing in its simplicity and because it appeals to what seem like first principle understandings of democracy, but it is nonetheless wrong.
A country where majorities want to see gun laws reformed, health care made more accessible and college more affordable, but where a majority government elected by a minority of citizens prevents any of that from happening is no longer a legitimate democracy. Moreover, failure to provide policies that are responsive to the preferences of consistent majorities of citizens will lead those citizens to lose confidence in the government and lose faith in its institutions. This will be exacerbated as President remains in office despite having twice lost the popular vote and having had a majority of Americans disapprove of his job performance virtually the entire time he has been in office, but this is where the US could be heading beginning in 2021.
Because they have chosen simply to exploit the least democratic elements of the Constitution, the Republicans have no incentive to broaden their party’s appeal or expand that appeal beyond their base. Therefore, there is no reason why the most deluded, angry and narrow parts of the base cannot take over the party-and that is exactly what has happened. The result of this is that a primary opponent to Trump, even somebody with the wealth and resume of Bloomberg, would not only lose, but would be subject to the attacks, threats and slander that is now the way the Republicans respond to all perceived threats to Trump’s power.
Although the midterms went better for the Democrats than the Republicans, they did not quite run the table. Democratic control of the House of Representatives is good news for that Party and all but guarantees that the conservative legislative phase, such as it was, of Donald Trump’s presidency is over. However, Republicans can point to the US Senate where they expanded their lead meaning that President Trump will be encounter no resistance when appointing federal judges, cabinet appointees or other positions requiring Senate confirmation. Thus, both parties can claim partial victories, but there was a clear loser-American democracy.