November 8, 2006

Challenge for Democrats: Renew Our Political System

 

The now-concluded elections were the fun part, at least for everyone except perhaps the candidates themselves. The Democrats have taken over the House, and perhaps the Senate. Now comes the hard part, actually governing this complex, dynamic country during a difficult period. Even more than specific laws and long-needed oversight, this will require a priority commitment to strengthening and maintaining the integrity of our political system, which has taken such a hit over the last six years.

 

Nancy Pelosi is famous for saying, “There’s nothing like winning.” This has sometimes served as rationale for a very partisan approach for dealing with issues and Republican opponents. This was perhaps necessary during the wilderness years. Now that they will have some people in Washington actually listening to them, another strategy may be in order.

 

The voters have asked for change in the way business is being done. It’s up to the Democrats to show them they can deliver. This can be demonstrated with Democrats’ initial statements, the new Speaker’s appointments of committee chairpersons and the entire tone of the party’s approach. The temptations for revenge will be strong, but statesmanship must prevail. The Democrats are now at least co-guardians of our political system.

 

In the political arena everyone believes, or sounds like they believe, that they know exactly what needs to be done. Only if others would listen to their wisdom! It often gets lost in the shuffle that, apart from getting one’s own vision adopted, a primary job for everyone involved in the governing process is to help make the political system work in an effective way. If the system isn’t working, or isn’t trusted by a sizable majority of the citizens, what good is having one’s vision driving that system?

 

Even our very adversarial system of justice has an analogous responsibility. Lawyers on both sides of a case, among others, are considered “officers of the court”. This role trumps their loyalty to client and case when situations arise that require their support of the integrity of the justice system as a whole. Perhaps our members of Congress need to think of themselves as “officers of the Congress”.

 

Our planet is another human system. It is more fragile than we thought. If we melt it, freeze it or poison it, it won’t matter much which country is the greatest superpower, or which party is in power in any single country. Our political system – you know, the one that has kept our democracy functioning for more than two hundred years – is another example of a crucial human system.

 

To help them function and survive, human systems require minimum common assumptions about its basic nature and priorities and shared concepts for communication. They require credible mechanisms for decision-making and resolving differences. Healthy human systems recognize that people need each other to achieve important objectives for themselves. This interdependence keeps the whole together as a whole. Some of these elements seem to have lost their vitality in our own political system. It is now up to the Democrats to show they can bring them back.

 

What specifically would this entail? One might be assembling bi-partisan working groups to address major issues of the day: immigration, Social Security, domestic security. Another might be creating a receptive environment for the ideas of the Baker-Hamilton Commission of Iraq, with a view toward creating a bi-partisan exit strategy, to the extent that is possible in the current emotional context. This was not done well with Vietnam and the recriminations still exist, 40 years later. Differences among Democrats can be a moderating force in forging these strategies.

 

This is about tone as well as substance. It is about saying and doing in ways that demonstrate an awareness of the importance of the integrity of the larger system to us all, and the value of all those that make it up – in our country, and in the Congress. This is a time for high-mindedness and statesmanship – showing limits where necessary, but always in pursuit of the strongest possible results for our political system and our country.

 

If nothing else works to motivate the Democrats in this noble direction, there’s always thinking of these two years as an audition for the big prize of 2008.

 

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