A good part of the magic of representative democracy in our republic is that losing an election does not mean losing power forever. Just like in most modern sports, there are always opportunities to compete again and again. This has been true ever since our Constitution went into effect in 1789. It has been true for the federal government, the state governments, and our local governments. See Ballotpedia’s elections calendar here: https://ballotpedia.org/Elections_calendar
Thus far, no one person or political party has been able to install itself in power forever. There are many reasons for this happy outcome, including the separation of powers between Congress, the presidency, and the courts, as well as federalism, civil liberties, and civil rights. You can read about these here: https://cffad.org/topics/
These features of the American republic have reassured most politicians and leaders that they do not need to rely on bribery or violence to gain power. They only need patience, good ideas, and organization – campaign supporters and voters will follow.
In some other parts of the world, however, some leaders and political parties have figured out that they can entrench themselves in power, at least for a while, until they are overthrown. They found ways to keep their opposition out of power. That exclusion is made easier when the part of government empowered to enforce the laws also takes for itself the power to make those laws, thus weakening the separation of powers. Once that is accomplished, it is easier to selectively obstruct or deny to the opposition their rights to vote, to legislative representation, to due process, and to enjoy each of their civil liberties.
To those here at home who say such an outcome would be a good thing, please consider how you would feel if your political opposites had all the power. (And, no, they never have, not so far.) We know there’s a lot of you out there – in both major parties – see the table below.
Good Ways to Govern the U.S.A.?
| Percent of party supporters (excl. leaners) who responded these options are a “very good” or “somewhat good” way to govern the U.S.A. | 2/28/2021 | 11/30/2024 |
| A strong leader, unrestrained by Congress or elections | ||
| Democrats | 27% | 30% |
| Republicans | 32% | 44% |
| Army Rule | ||
| Democrats | 17% | 27% |
| Republicans | 21% | 28% |
Source: Bright Line Watch
Our maxim is this: never give your leaders more power than you would trust to your political opposites. Why? Because, eventually, your political opposites will be in power and might want to use that power against you.
To those who feel such an outcome should never be allowed here, we observe that manipulating the system is made harder when there is a broad coalition of citizens to insist that their lawmakers resist such tactics. That broad coalition is difficult to achieve, however, when a third of the citizenry purposefully avoids any news of political developments, and the remaining citizens are set against each other. Such circumstances would require a practical coalition-building strategy that cuts through social media bubbles and is resilient to misinformation and polarizing rhetoric.
Photo: Chicago White Sox end a 21-game losing streak August 6, 2024. AP/G. Vasquez.
