Ever since the Democrat’s electoral wipeout of 2010, Republicans have made it a point to do everything in their power to restrict American democracy. Through “Voter Fraud” initiatives churning out new restrictive Voter ID Laws in the States, alongside ruthless partisan Gerrymandering, Republicans have succeeded in enshrining a new Conservative Majority requiring merely a plurality of votes. From Wisconsin to North Carolina, Republican majorities are here to stay, at least until Democrats can win their own wipeout election.
But what will Democrats do once they finally regain control of State Legislatures or Congress?
By the looks of it, it’s back to legislating moderately Progressive causes, like more Universal Healthcare coverage, more family friendly labor laws like Paid Family Leave, and tighter regulations. All worthwhile causes.
The argument it seems, is how best to get those things done. Should we use tax breaks and credits to influence business behavior? Or should Democrats push for more direct Federal and State Government interventions?
The problem is that when Republicans inevitably regain the upper hand, they’ve shown a willingness to outright repeal Democratic policies and, if necessary, cheat, swindle and lie to get their Conservative policies enacted. Each time they gain control of government, whether on the State or Federal level, they make it more and more difficult for Democrats to regain control of government and to enact even slightly left-of-center policies.
Republicans have proven again and again that they are more than willing to dispense with centuries-old democratic norms in order to further their donor’s agenda. Their desperation reached new lows when Majority leader Mitch McConnell revealed the depths of his disregard for democracy by refusing to even bring for consideration President Obama’s choice to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.
Republican animosity for democratic norms means that no matter how many elections Democrats win, we will never be as effective at implementing policies as the Republicans. The answer to this problem is a concerted effort to push for more Democracy.
Democrats need to make the expansion of ballot initiatives at the state level a centerpieve of their platform, as well as a Federal version of the ballot initiative, alongside other democratic reforms such as public funding of elections, mandatory voter registration and other laws with the goal of eventually severing the financial ties between wealthy, right-wing reactionaries and their Republican stooges.
Until this happens, any progress we make on the policy front will continue to be undermined and reversed the moment Republicans regain control of State legislatures and Congress. We won’t always get as lucky as we have so far with ACA repeal and replace efforts, and even those wins haven’t stopped Trump from undermining the law via Executive action.
The answer to authoritarianism will always be more Democracy, before we find ourselves living under single-party rule.