Ruling Elites & Their Disdain for Democracy

To solve the serious problems facing our country, we need to minimize the harm from legislative inertia by relying more on automatic policies and depoliticized commissions for certain policy decisions. In other words, radical as it sounds, we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic. (“Too Much of a Good Thing:  Why we need less democracy”)

What a novel approach to governance.  Instead of allowing the people, through their elected representatives to make laws, why not set up “depoliticized commissions” (as if there is such an animal) to avoid the mess of democracy?  While the above statement could have been spoken by any number of people, would it surprise you to know that it was President Obama’s former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag?  What exactly is Mr. Orszag saying, really?  Perhaps that Executives, including the President and his Administration, would much rather work through “less democratic” means, including avoiding Congress, in order to be able to enact legislative policies that would help “to solve the serious problems facing our country.” 

With all of the gridlock in Washington, D.C., there is a desire to find a quick fix for what supposedly ails the country.  According to Mr. Orszag, radical changes, which would counter the gridlock and put Congress in its place, may be just what a weary electorate needs.  After all, isn’t Congress even more reviled than President Obama?  Who really cares if the people’s representatives have a say in what policies are enacted?  Just put it on auto pilot and everyone will be happy.  Better yet, why have any elections at all?  Perhaps only half-joking, Democratic Governor Bev Perdue, of North Carolina, suggested forgoing the Congressional elections in 2012:

I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and  just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to  just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree  with me on that.  You want people who don’t worry about the next  election.

There’s only one tiny problem with Gov. Perdue’s solution:  it violates the United States Constitution.  I’ll give the Governor the benefit of the doubt that she was using hyperbole to get her point across, but in a world where many countries do not have free and fair elections for their people — much less letting women vote — you might think that American politicians and government leaders would be more careful in joking about suspending elections.

However, elites at all levels of government — national, state, and local — as well as elites within the fields of business, entertainment, industry, and even religion, often exhibit disdain (open or otherwise) for democracy.  Like both former OMB Director Orszag and Gov. Perdue, many elites would like nothing better than to jettison democratic ideals and values in an effort to quickly solve a problem or to pass their own agenda.  The problem with that approach is that a bigger problem is created when the democratic rights of the people are trampled on by those who are in power.  Speaking at the Reagan Presidential Library on Tuesday night, New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie reminded the American people why we should care about our precious democratic ideals:

We should care because we believe, as President Reagan did, that democracy is the best protector of human dignity and freedom.  And we know this because history shows that mature democracies are less likely to resort to force against their own people or their neighbors. (text of full speech here)

As of now, Gov. Christie says he is not running for President in 2012.  That’s too bad because we need someone like Chris Christie in the White House.  Truth be told, he’s one Yankee that this southern boy could support.  And, despite what others might think, the name of his state wouldn’t prevent me from voting for him.  Go figure!