The federal budget shutdown proves democracy does not work – right? Especially since it has happened several times since 1980 including some long ones in 1995/96, 2013, 2018/19 and now?
We agree it is maddening to watch the two major political parties willingly use government services from the military to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) as well as the paychecks for millions of Americans.
We want to point out, however, that there are 50 state governments, plus the District of Columbia, just over 3,000 county governments, and over 88,000 local governments.
Almost all manage to pass annual budgets year after year without any shutdowns.
- The worst we could find was three state shutdowns out of 50 in 1991. We found none between 1993 and 2001, and none from 2017 onward. The worst states were Maine (1991 and 2017), Minnesota (2005, 2011), and New Jersey (2006, 2017). Overall, there were twelve state shutdowns that lasted 3 or more days in the 50 states multiplied by 34 years between 1991 and 2025, for an average rate of seven-tenths of one percent.
We also want to point out that budget shutdowns are the result of poor choices made by just a few politicians and their advisors. Shutdowns are not a natural feature of democracy.
- Most other governments around the world have laws that automatically allow spending to continue at the level established in the previous year’s budget.
- That used to be true in the USA as well: there were no federal government shutdowns during the first 194 years of the American Republic, from 1787 to 1981. That changed after a 1980 legal opinion from Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti. His memo reinterpreted the Anti-Deficiency Act of 1884. The legal opinion said “during periods of ‘lapsed appropriations,’ no funds may be expended except as necessary to bring about the orderly termination of an agency’s function.” Under this interpretation, a shutdown is required when there are no appropriations.
- Civiletti’s ruling created an opportunity for political maneuvering. The two major political parties can now use the threat of a shutdown with the hope of scoring political points or gaining policy leverage in negotiations over budget priorities. Party leaders believe they can put pressure on the opposing side by holding spending bills hostage until they get what they want.
There is no reason why that ruling could not be replaced with the simple budget rule used by most other countries.
It can happen if enough voters like you make it clear they are more interested in getting problems solved than seeing the other side lose.
Democracy can work well for us – but only if we are vigilant against malicious rules and politicians who exploit them.
** To see an overview of what our Constitution’s framers thought were the most important rules to protect our freedoms, check out our short course America: Republic or Democracy. We offer several other short courses as well, along with a growing glossary of useful terms. Check us out here: https://cffad.org/
