The rotting of American democracy

Let me get straight to the point: here is some of what is seriously wrong with American democracy and how to fix it. Of course, the point is entirely rhetorical, since I have no expectations at all that the corrupt political body in Washington or the nearly illiterate (in terms of democratic values) American public will actually act on it. Nonetheless:

1. Corporations (and Unions) are not people, they do not have fundamental rights like free speech (they have legal rights as legal entities, of course), and money does not equate with speech. Contrary to what the current Republican majority on the Supreme Court has recently, not at all surprisingly and highly disingenuously, decided.

Fix: Congress should pass a constitutional amendment that declares that rights are applicable only to individual persons, not legal entities.

2. Lobbying is a form of institutionalized bribery, a point related to the one above. In other democracies this is a crime, which is not to say that politicians aren’t corruptible, but it does mean that if caught they go to jail. Americans, who love to describe their system as “the best democracy in the world” apparently have no clue that all they have is the best democracy that money can buy. And they aren’t getting much for their money either.

Fix: all forms of lobbying should be outlawed. Individual citizens have the right to petition government, but corporations and other entities don’t have the right to pay professionals to cajole and bribe members of Congress.

3. The Senate’s filibuster is an idiotic and undemocratic tool. It is not in the Constitution, its current incarnation was implemented as recently as 1975 as a revision to Senate Rule 22, which itself is most certainly not in the Constitution and quite clearly contrary to its spirit. It makes it almost impossible for a party to govern even if it is elected with an overwhelming majority of votes.

Fix: the Senate can simply change its own governing rules and be done with it.

4. Speaking of the Senate, it is completely absurd that every State still gets to elect two senators, regardless of the population of that state. This may have made some sense back in 1787, when delegates at the Constitutional Convention were faced with a possible breakdown of negotiations if the individual colonies were not allowed a sufficient degree of independence (they called it “the Great Compromise,” it should have been called the Great Sham). But we don’t have “colonies” any more, and it is an insult to democracy that the smallest State (Wyoming, 544,270 inhabitants) has as much power in the most powerful chamber of Congress as the largest one (California, 36,961,664 inhabitants). Change that and we won’t have a “red/blue states” problem anymore.

Fix: we need a constitutional amendment to finally get rid of the “Great Compromise.”

5. Two parties is democracy on life support. A system that essentially — because of its structure — allows only two parties to vie for political control represents the bare minimum for a democracy, considering that it is just one step away from totalitarianism. I don’t buy the common idea that “there is no difference” between the parties. It should by now be painfully clear that the eight years before Obama would have been very different had the Dems been in charge. Regardless, two players is just not enough, and it breeds complacency and corruption.

Fix: this one is a tough cookie, because it would require widespread structural changes to the system, changes that of course would have to be designed and enacted by the two parties currently in charge. The disincentives are obvious. Still, getting rid of the “winner takes all” system during both primaries and general elections, as well as stopping the corrupt gerrymandering of electoral districts (just make ‘em coincide with counties, for crying out loud!) would go a long way toward accomplishing the goal. The best approach would probably be a grassroots effort that establishes alternative parties at the local level first, followed years later by attempts at a national election (the major mistake of third-party presidential candidates is typically precisely the fact that they jump straight onto the national stage without sufficient local support).

There is more, oh so much more, beginning of course with seriously curbing self-financing of political campaigns (this is becoming a game for billionaires, with an obscene amount of money being spent during every electoral cycle), for which goal public financing is really the only way to go. We should also have automatic and permanent voter registration whenever someone reaches voting age, as it is done in other civilized countries (when Republicans invoke the danger of voter fraud they are being nakedly dishonest). And elections should take place over two days and on weekends, to maximize participation. Still, if we could get through the five points above, the US would truly be a remarkable democracy, though still not “the best.” Instead, it is rotting away, and the stench is becoming unbearable.