A good friend Stephen Walli and I were talking about how the democratic system can be really effective when there is an effective balance of power between governing entities (i.e. Democratic Congress + Republican Presidency, or Republican Senate + Democratic House, etc.).
This happened often in Canada where the Parliament and the Senate were of different parties, or key provinces (Quebec, Ontario) had opposing views to the federal government. The resulting "offset" was helpful in ensuring that government was accountable to the broader community. In fact, it created alignment on key social issues (environment, diversity, woman's right to chose, gender rights, etc.) for all the parties. These became givens for all parties, allowing governing to focus on issues like the economy, education, etc., and over the last decade the Canadian economy has grown vs. its peers.
Over the last eight years, the dynamic in the United States has been …well, bizarre. The Executive branch has manipulated Congress irrespective of party. Even during the six years that the Republicans controlled the Senate, House and Presidency, the President (and VP) was often at odds with Congress, but because he had fear on his side, he was able to make them do what he wanted. Democracy didn’t really exist, this was effectively a dictatorship. The power of fear (and threat of war) was so strong that the population hardly wavered despite profound failures like the most powerful nation in the world’s shameful performance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (a failure that even today, three years later remains repaired).
Rather than restore this idea of balance where moderation is possible and broader communities and interests are served, this election is creating even more polarization. Colin Powell spoke very eloquently about this on Meet the Press today. I’ve also written about this here and here.
This is not what we need from either candidate – shame on them both for allowing this to happen. Neither side is exemplifying leadership, or the idea of balance.
Is it possible for both sides to put all this silliness aside and attempt integrity? Sadly, it looks like they’re pursuing the opposite course instead.
Are we not better than this?
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