Democracy Dysfunction

If you’re American, did you vote on November 4, 2014? I feel it’s my civic duty, so I voted.

As expected, voter turnout was very low - less than a third of registered voters actually voted in many States. In 43 states, less than half the eligible population bothered to vote.

I know a lot of people who didn’t vote; they think that it’s simply not worth voting any more. Their excuses are all in the same vein: “The system is broken”; “It’s a waste of my time”; “It’s a joke”; “I’m not interested”; “I forgot”. You may be interested to look at a pie chart that shows the excuses Americans give for not voting. (1)

Democracy Experiment

Someone said about Democracy, “The combined thinking of hundreds of donkeys cannot produce the wisdom of one man.” Someone else said, “Democracy is dysfunctional – but there’s nothing better”. 

Most historians agree that democracy started in Athens about 2,000 years ago. It took only 250 years for their democratic system to collapse – when privilege, corruption and mismanagement took hold. (2)

About 2,000 years later democracy was launched in America. The U.S. Constitution was defined as a representative democracy – government by popular consent. America grew into the world’s leading power – economically, culturally and militarily. 

In Europe, democracies overtook almost all authoritarian monarchies and dictatorships. Many other countries assumed the democratic form of government. Some are evolving toward one-party, voter-blessed, autocracies; the Communist party controls China autocratically. India is the world’s largest democracy. 

The second democratic experiment is approaching 250 years; it has lasted as long as the first. But the lesson from Athens is that success does not breed success. Democracy is not the default. It is a form of government that must be created with determination and that will disintegrate unless nurtured by leadership. 

Today, in the US and elsewhere, democracy is disintegrating. If these model democracies collapse, it will soon run down elsewhere.

Democracy in distress

Repeatedly the American people are shown how anti-democratic their government really is.  The power of the big business corporate interests is seen regularly with massive corporate welfare and cronyism. Policies are designed to help the corporate and special interests, even if it means undermining jobs at home and expanding the wealth divide. The government is regularly pursuing rigged trade deals.

In America today there is widespread distress about the basic functioning of our democracy. Congress is viewed less favorably than ever before in the history of public opinion polling. When politicians are unable to reach agreement on important things like budget deficits, revulsion is widespread. (3)

A recent poll found that an overwhelming number of Americans agree that the political system is broken and needs to be fixed. It’s evident that there is widespread corruption of government by big money. Many are frustrated with the abuses of the political ruling class: incumbent politicians, lobbyists, the elite media, big business, big banks, big unions, lobbyists and big special interests. These people are more interested in protecting their own power than in doing what’s right for the country and the people. They are systematically rigging the system to serve themselves and they loot the national treasury at the expense of every American.

2014 Congressional Record

The current Congress is on track to be the worst ever since modern record keeping began. The divided House and Senate beat the previous record set during the 2011-2013 session. (4)

Federal Election Commission report found record highs in total outside spending for 2014. “Dark money” (spending by groups that conceal the identity of their donors) was made possible by weak regulations and Supreme Court rulings like Citizens United. This has increased dramatically both in dollar terms and as a percentage of total election spending. In other words, outside money is giving wealthy spenders more power than ever to buy influence over elections.

The key players in our political system, candidates and parties, are not necessarily accountable for outside spending. Non-candidate expenditures are not transparent, which hides the effects. Increasingly, outside spending is a way to avoid (or evade) election regulations – influencing elections without playing by the rules.

Price Tag

The total price tag for the 2014 midterms – an election which almost no one is paying attention to – will be nearly $4 billion. That would make it the most expensive midterm election in history and set the stage for a 2016 presidential contest that could approach double-digit billions in spending. (5)

Television gets the major share of election spending, so it fuels the flames. The 2014 midterm election cycle is the most expensive overall of all time, costing as much as $4 billion for all media in all the races across the country. The spend on broadcast advertising alone from Jan. 2013 until Oct. 23, 2014 is about $1.8 billion, even though there were fewer total ads run than in the past. (6)

Frozen Election Reform

Four years after the Citizens United decision revolutionized campaign finance, the Federal Election Commission still has not written any new rules interpreting what it means for candidates. 

The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations has ballooned to a monstrous 200 volumes. This shows that government interference into the private lives of individuals has mushroomed and that our so-called democracy has become a danger to liberty.

Technology Subverted

New technologies, which have the potential to make our government more inclusive and responsive, are instead being applied in ways that challenge the very functioning of our democratic system. (7)

For example: Start with a Google account. In Google’s Ad Settings, there’s a list of “interest categories” assigned based on websites visited. Political campaigns make use of this kind of rich profile every time they purchase advertising from Google or its competitors. It allows campaigns to buy advertising targeting specific types of voters. 

Also, campaigns have rich profiles of their own, built by combining the voter-registration and voter-history information bought wholesale from data brokers as well as mailing list and donor information from campaigns, PACs, and parties. The availability of these rich profiles has changed campaign strategy and tactics.

Delayed Dilemma

Elections always highlight the many ways that democracy is being destroyed, and remind about the solutions that are needed to restore American politics.  But once the dust settles after Election Day, the impetus to fix things fizzles out, as it does after every big election. 

The winners will say there is not a problem because they won. The press starts covering the new administration. And weary voters look ahead to solutions, not back to old problems. That’s how our dysfunctional democracy always seems to limp along until the next major election or a national crisis. (8)

Despite the importance of traditional issues like an weak economy, poor job growth, a failed education system, and a tax system that works for no one, an overwhelming majority of voters recognize the simple reality: it is necessary to fix the broken political system first, before anything can be done to solve other important issues.

Political Polarization Must Stop

The battle lines of the new political order are emerging. When presented with the proposition that “the real struggle for America is not between Democrats and Republicans but mainstream America and the ruling political elites,” over 66% of voters agree. (9)

The vast majority of voters are tuning out the old “conservative vs. liberal” political discussion. Most Americans are not liberal or conservative. They are unified in frustration with the corruption of the political ruling class: incumbent politicians, lobbyists, the elite media, big business, big banks, big unions, and big special interests.

Change or Crash

The American Declaration of Independence proclaims that when a government does not support the rights and needs of the people, then “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Most Americans are fed up with the phony democracy that exists in the United States. Everywhere, people are engaged in democracy rebellions as many re-examine the nation’s roots, especially with the conflicting pressures of the current elections. Have we reached that point? Many think so.  (10)

Most Americans agree that the real struggle for America is not between Democrats and Republicans but the political and wealthy ruling elites.

Fading American Dream

An overwhelming majority say we must recruit and support for public office more ordinary citizens and fewer professional politicians. Not surprising when you consider that most people know that both political parties do what’s in it for them rather than fix our nation’s problems. The voters understand that what needs fixing is the political class.

The American dream is fading. Today, most Americans believe that their children will not have a future better than our present.

References:

1. Most Popular Excuses For Not Voting: http://goo.gl/lG1U7B

2. Is American democracy headed to extinction? http://goo.gl/YejDTZ

3. The Illusion of Democracy in America: http://goo.gl/Ra9MQB

4. Current Congress might be histories worst: http://goo.gl/nxGnlT

5. 2014 will be the most expensive midterm election ever: http://goo.gl/b1zeVZ

6. TV Stations Benefit From Spending Bonanza: http://goo.gl/eqr7Wd

7. Blame Google for America's dysfunctional democracy: http://goo.gl/mk7Ces

8. Six fixes for American democracy: http://goo.gl/AKObXq

9. Infrastructure of American Democracy Is Dysfunctional: http://goo.gl/ol9VGU

10. Democracy can’t be fixed. It’s inherently broken: http://goo.gl/7n63mr

Jim Pinto

5 November 2014