Virginia,
gerrymandered districts stifle political competition
and engender electoral
apathy.
Post-Saddam
Iraq
provides a case study in politics and government.
Ingredients essential for ordered liberty are in
short supply in that country. We would do well to
rediscover what those ingredients are and preserve
them.
Three decades of totalitarian rule in
Iraq
will make the establishment of a stable government a
challenge. Developing a government that
provides both order and a substantial measure of
liberty will be even more difficult.
We Americans take for granted our inherited traditions and
institutions that have produced more than two
centuries of generally peaceful transfers of power. Unlike
much of the world, we don’t resort to violence to
gain control of government. We rely on peaceful
elections.
Even in the
United
States,
there are no guarantees that ordered liberty and
peaceful elections will continue indefinitely. If we
ignore the health of our civil society and political
process, we eventually will resemble Third
World
countries that swing from chaos to tyranny with
little prospect of personal freedom.
James Bryce, the British aristocrat who wrote a brilliant
assessment of 19th century politics in the United
States,
rejected the notion that the gravest threat to
personal freedom is the tyranny of the majority.
Bryce argued that the fatalism of the multitude
poses a far more potent danger. As people
disengage, the door is open to corruption and
arbitrary rule.
Just as the people of
Iraq
must take responsibility as individuals for the
future of their politics and governance, we should
recognize that our own political processes can’t
be left to a mere handful for safekeeping. With each
passing year, fewer and fewer Virginians are
actively involved in politics. Turnout for primary
and general elections continues to decline.
Opportunities for citizens to participate in
elections in a meaningful way are being marginalized
by incumbent officeholders. These are not healthy
signs.
Choice is the essence of sound politics in a free society. Politics
would be an empty exercise if there were no
differences among us in values and preferences. Our
party politics and popular elections are about
choosing. They are the means by which we settle
our differences without resorting to violence.
Most incumbent elected officials feel threatened by the
kind of open, vigorous and free-wheeling politics
that is absolutely essential to a healthy
representative government. These incumbents
resort to formal and informal methods to dampen
popular choice. They tend to gain control of
their respective political parties so that they can
manage partisan activities.
When citizens are long denied the opportunity to express
themselves through political and electoral means on
the issues of most concern to them, the system
becomes brittle and distorted. Elections that
turn on controversial questions are divisive and
unsettling. The alternative is worse.
Powerful sentiments cannot be suppressed indefinitely. They
will surface sooner or later. It is far better
to encourage their expression in elections and in
internal party contests than to let them fester
unresolved.
All of this has a bearing on current
Virginia
politics. There is far too little competition in
general elections and party nominations. Redistricting
has created too many “safe” seats in Congress
and the General Assembly. And too few
Republicans and Democrats are willing to challenge
powerful incumbents for their party’s nomination.
The result is that the people are more and more disengaged
from their government. We had better start
reversing that trend.
May
5, 2003
