Written by Tina Johnson
January 6th Resurrection Reflections: American Democracy’s Pipes Need Changing
The attack on the United State´s Capitol on January 6, 2021 was abhorrent and shameful. The exploitation of those, who willingly engaged in one of the greatest disgraces in modern American political history, was cowardly, monstrous, and disgusting.
On this day, and the days leading up to the insurrection, there was a blatant disregard for American democracy, its citizens, and its rule of law. And those who heeded the call to do this fool´s errand, did so forcibly, on behalf of political leaders. They did this to overturn a fair and free election all because their narrow perspective on who and what the United States stands for was voted down by their fellow citizens.
The insurrection on January 6th would be laughable if the results of it did not have life and social altering consequences. The misguided angry mob posing as a political revolution was designed, developed, and implemented by politicians who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, not the ideology of a political party.
It is clear that the conservative political party´s agenda undermines the founding principles of the nation that it professes to be working on behalf of. And that they are using their constituents as cover to do so.
One year later I am reflecting on the unscrupulous political leadership and their minions that influenced ordinary American citizens to turn against the Constitutional principles that they say they are fighting to protect. Political leaders, or any leaders, who use their positions to create opportunities for predatory exploitation of those who they are, supposedly, representing, need to be held accountable in order to prevent this from ever reoccurring. And they should not be permitted to have a position that carries such immense influence again.
But as things stand today, one year later, only those who participated in the insurrection are being held accountable, while those who orchestrated, supported, encouraged and incited it are still walking the “hallow halls” of American democracy from the State House to the United States Capitol.
They continue to spew misinformation in those halls and via media platforms. There is something dangerously wrong when the protectors of democracy are not held accountable when they attempt to destroy their nation´s basic political rights.
Instead of a strong response by the Republican Party to hold their political leaders accountable they have chosen to distract and to disrupt. They are essentially saying that there is nothing to see here by their inaction. They have decided that it is better to pass anti-abortion bills across the country, to pass anti-voting rights legislation, and to reject the opportunity to improve the lives of Americans by voting against Build Back Better. Their intentional continued and sustained political polarization of citizens provides them political cover so that they can do nothing in the name of a minority of their constituents.
Our political system is being duped by many conservative politicians and talking heads to enrich a minority of elites at the expense of the well being of their own broader constituencies. In order to hold onto or gain power over the will of the people. And this is a problem for all of us because the impacts have a further reach beyond policy. The adverse impacts of this duping strikes at the very core of the foundational principles of American democracy.
Our democracy is an experiment, one that requires fluidity and forward movement towards equity and justice. The regressive political agenda of the conservative party is a contradiction and a threat to American democracy and its vision for a more perfect Union. The resurrection was an effort to break the Constitutional obligation of the United States to respect the vote of the majority — the will of the people.
How can we avoid the pitfall of becoming a failing democracy?
If you had a drain that was clogged you would unclog it. If it could not be unclogged you would have to replace the drainage pipes. Our political system needs new pipes because the old ones are no longer effectively doing their job.
It is clear that our political system needs to evolve further. If we are to avoid the perils that await our democratic system and social forward motion we have to reclaim the power of our democracy. I am not suggesting the bastardization version that is being pushed. We must think of how to increase the influence of the people over special interests (policy, business, lobbyist, etc.).
We have to remember that America´s Constitution is a living document and that its goal is to form a more perfect Union for all of its citizens. This perfect Union should be interpreted as being inclusive, not exclusive, and to ensure liberty and justice for everyone.
It is because the Constitution was never meant to be a dead document that it is possible to think of ways to increase the functionality and effectiveness of our government for all its citizens. We can amend the Constitution to meet the present needs of the United States in order to move it into the future. It has been amended 27 times since 1789, last being in 1992.
We must consider and reconsider the manner in which our government works and assess its effectiveness on behalf of the people it serves. Currently the only branch of government with term limits is the Executive Branch. If each branch of government (legislative and judicial) were to be termed limited we could avoid the stagnant nature of our political system at the Federal and State level.
As it now stands once a politician is elected to office they are more likely to be reelected over and over again. This is an ineffective functionality of a democracy, especially when institutionalized politicians consider themselves as the overlords of their own fiefdoms and their constituents their fiefs. Fifteen States already have term limits.
We should make our elected offices less career politician focused to increase candidate pools from a wider swath of American society. Politicians are public servants and should not be considered and their position is not an elite class of citizenship. There is a need for institutional knowledge and there are career bureaucrats, support staff, and administrative staff who are employed to hold this knowledge on processes and procedures to assist.
We could have a legislative requirement for any member of Congress who would run for the Office of President or Vice President that they must have been out of National political office for two years. A system that requires politicians to be about the work of the people in the office that they are elected to first and foremost is possible. The allure of the presidency and vice-presidency should be taken off the table while Senators and Representatives were currently serving the term in office.
Public funding provided by the government to each candidate to run their political campaign should be the only funding available for political office. This would be a direct benefit to the voter by placing the focus on voters and not the individual person or company that can afford to attend a fundraising dinner. Instead of being influenced by who can pay for air time on media platforms the candidates would be engaged more directly by candidates and likely reduce the amount of misinformation that can be distributed. The rock star status given to politicians and the political process is contrary to democracy.
Another important and necessary benefit of lowering the cost of running for political office is that it is accessible to the average American who is, by law, allowed to run for a public seat at both the State and National levels of government. Currently our system has regressed to the “land owner wealth” model with a few exceptions.
A rethinking of the party system should be considered. This is not a novel idea; there have been six Political Party Systems in the United States since its founding, which have all been an evolution of the two party system. Instead of the two party system with factions in both it may be time to consider a multi-party system that provides broader representation of the American citizen political views and encourages coalition building across party lines.
There may be a lesson to learn from the parliamentary system that can be adapted to our democratic system. A two party system almost instinctively results in polarizing voters. We need to consider ways to decrease polarization and increase the functionality of the government to meet the needs its citizens
These ideas are not new, nor is the conversation on the increased dysfunction of our political system. However, it is evident that serious considerations and actions need to happen sooner rather than later. There is a clear and present danger to American democracy and it is political leadership that is allowed to maneuver in destructive and undermining ways.
Last year a group of Americans stormed the United States Capitol to overthrow a fair and free election at the urging and behest of political leaders who were elected to uphold the Constitution. Under the current reality that we are living with, left unchecked and with no accountability.
Another January 6th resurrection could happen again. And it could destroy our democracy if we do not change the pipes of our political systems and structures.