OP-ED: Republicans against democracy
One of the most important characteristics of “the American Experiment” was the peaceful transition of power, which first happened in the United States in the 1800 election, when the sitting president, John Adams, was beaten by his political rival, Thomas Jefferson, and Adams willingly left office. Under most operative governments of the time, transitions in power occurred after the death of the ruler, either by natural causes or at the hands of political rivals. In modern times, many dictatorships start democratically, but the elected leader’s unwillingness to leave power leads to changes in the rules (or outright uses of military force) to allow the leader to remain in power. The willingness for a party in power to accept defeat is the foundation of stable government and the rule of law; without it, we revert to a struggle based on power and force of arms.
Since the Republican Party relies on a shrinking demographic base, they have tried to “game the system” by limiting the political power of those who oppose them, primarily by making it difficult for them to vote. In some cases, once the Republicans lose power, they have tried to restrict the power of the incoming Democrats. Such tactics may be politically smart in the short term, but they undermine the stability of the system by severing the connection between the people and those who run the government.
In both Wisconsin and Michigan, traditionally Democratic states that had Republican governors and attorneys general, the Republicans were ousted from the statewide offices in November, but through gerrymandering and the concentration of Democratic voters in the cities, retained power in the legislature (although Democrats won 53 percent of the votes for the legislature, they only won 36 percent of the seats). To prevent the incoming Democrats from changing Republican policies, the Republicans stripped power from the offices the Democrats would now hold, and transferred power to the Republican legislatures. Republican Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald explained the reasoning behind the move: “I’m concerned; I think that Governor-elect Evers is going to bring a liberal agenda to Wisconsin.” Well that is how the government is supposed to work; people run a campaign, if they win the election, they get to use the powers they’ve been granted through the electoral process to enact the changes that they ran on.
The Republican strategy of stripping incoming governors of power was pioneered in North Carolina. In 2016, in spite of Republican efforts to suppress the vote in N.C. (including a voter ID law that the Supreme Court overturned because it was used to “target African-Americans with almost surgical precision”), Democrat Roy Cooper won a close governor’s race. After his victory, the Republican Legislature stripped him of many of his powers (forcing him to get the Republican-controlled Legislature to approve his cabinet appointments, e.g.).
Republicans also tried to stymie the results of statewide referenda. In Maine, Republican Gov. Paul LePage refused to sign the state up for the Medicaid expansion, in spite of an almost 60 percent approval by the voters in a referendum in 2017. In Florida, the state Legislature tried to delay allowing ex-felons to vote, even though the voters had passed such a measure by more than 60 percent. In Missouri, Republican Gov. Mike Parson was claiming that an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that limited lobbying and gerrymandering that passed overwhelmingly in November was somehow unconstitutional, and would not be implemented.
These Republican efforts to limit the power of Democrats in state governments align with their efforts to suppress the votes of people who are likely to vote Democratic. Under the guise of preventing in-person voter fraud, Republicans around the country have reduced early voting, passed increasingly restrictive voter ID laws, and under the guise of saving money, closed polling stations. In Arizona, in 2016, the Republican chief election official for Maricopa County (Phoenix) reduced the number of polling stations to 60 (down from 200 in 2012); most counties in Arizona have 2,500 voters per polling station, while Maricopa County had 21,000. Maricopa county is 44 percent minority and very Democratic. In Alabama, the state Legislature passed a voter ID requirement in 2011. In 2015, the state proposed closing 31 licensing centers, mostly in the rural areas of the state’s black belt, making it much harder for those residents to get the ID required to vote. The thing these efforts all have in common is that they make it more difficult for people who are young, poor, or people of color to vote (most of whom tend to vote for Democrats). Republicans know that if they cannot convince someone to vote for them, preventing someone from voting who would vote for their opponent is just as effective.
The problem with the Republican strategy of using whatever means necessary to enhance their power despite a lack of support of the people governed is that in the long run, it undermines the very basis for our stable government. For government to work effectively, and for us to have the stability that comes with living under the rule of law, people have to have faith that the government is legitimate, has been fairly established, and that they have a legitimate opportunity to participate. That means people who control the government must actually believe that a government that reflects the will of the people is the goal. We should all embrace that goal.
Kent James is an East Washington resident and has degrees in history and policy management from Carnegie Mellon University.