The Question:
Would the current contentious polarized dynamics in U.S. democracy be improved if there were multiple (i.e., more than 2 major political parties) political parties present in the U.S. federal government? Why or why not? (600-800 words)My Essay
“To
judge from the conduct of the opposite parties, we shall be led to conclude
that they will mutually hope to evince the justness of their opinions, and to
increase the number of their converts by the loudness of their declamations and
the bitterness of their invectives.”
~ Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers No. 1
~ Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers No. 1
Official Opposition
One type of government most
common throughout much of Europe, South Asia and many former British Colonies is
a Parliament. Dr. Lawrence Joseph says that “An official opposition in
parliament plays a most significant role in the governance of a country.”
An official body purpose
is to, literally oppose the government. Jay Makarenko, from Canada, sums it up
for us: “In this role, the opposition takes on an adversarial role vis-à-vis
the government…routinely criticizing government legislation and actions, as
well as providing the Canadian public with alternative policies. In some cases,
the opposition may even organize to bring down the government, by voting
against key pieces of government legislation...
Germany’s Bundestag has a
similar committee called Scrutiny of the government. This body of the
government is similar to the Official Opposition noted above in that their
function is, as the name implies, to scrutinize the government. There are
permanent committees for oversight, as well as bodies which are established to
scrutinize specific policy at need. A scrutiny committee is set up if a motion
is supported by one quarter of the parliament. Compare this to the “simple majority”
of just over half or the “super majority” which requires two thirds. That the
scrutiny is easy to introduce gives easy access for the scrutinizing to begin.
Compare that with the US,
where we have “watchdogs”, private organizations run by non-governmental
groups. Missions range from fraud, waste, corruption, abuse of authority,
illegal activity and so on. [Wikipedia]
Modern Opposition
George Anastaplo Loyola
University Chicago, School of Law, writes “Loyal Opposition
may be built into any system, such as that in the United States, which has an
effective separation of powers.” Further, that by changing political parties by
virtue of a newly elected president from a political party opposite the former,
essentially, a Loyal Opposition is taking over.
Pre-1804, the
Presidential selection process was different than what we have now. “The United States Constitution… originally
provided that the Vice President would be the person who secured the second
highest number of electors for the Presidency.”
What this means, is that
the President and Vice President would be opponents. This assures that a Loyal
Opposition be operating. Why, then, was it changed in 1804 in the 12th
Amendment?
Professor Sanford
Levinson interprets the 12th amendment for us. Firstly, the voting
process was different than modern day. Each person voted for two candidates.
The one with most votes became president and the runner up vice president. That
system (to quickly summarize) in the late 1700’s lead to a tie, forced out the
incumbent and ended up with “lame ducks” in the lead. Indeed, the Framers’ system as Sanford says “[reflected]
the desire… to avoid development of political parties and focus indeed on some
notion of “best men.”
Maybe it’s all about Finance
NPR’s Ari Shapiro reflects
that in a parliament, the majority is fairly stable. “It would be as if the
American president’s party always controlled Congress” Current political
environment events conclude that would be a less than ideal solution for modern
times. Likely that’s where a strong opposition or scrutiny comes in to play in
that system of government?
Shapiro’s interview with Boston
University's Cathie Jo Martin, president of the American Political Science
Association, she said “I think the campaign finance issue is probably the
single most important difference between America and the rest of the
world,"
Thomas Patterson
investigates this under a header aptly titled “Unequal Access to Resources”
wherein he says corporations have an advantage over citizens groups.
Corporations, for example Ford, Chrysler and General Motors have successfully
lobbied government to reduce fuel efficiency standards. Not a political party unto
themselves, but certainly worth noting for the voice they give government and ideologically
speaking, a direct opposition to the concept of governmental Scrutiny.
Paralleling that concept
is a comment made by president Barrack Obama in 2013, prophetical for current
events: “You have some ideological extremist who has a big bankroll and they
can entirely skew our politics.”
Closing
I’m not convinced the
current government should not have some built in opposition. Either a Loyal
Opposition as many countries have, or a pre-12th Amendment system. That
the framers warned about the perils of parties, and that they built in a system
designed to have opposition working together should not have been overwritten
so hastily.
Bibliography
Anastaplo, George. "Loyal Opposition in a
Modern Democracy." Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 35.Issue
#4 Summer 2004 Article 2 (2004).
<https://lawecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1253&context=luclj>.
Hamilton, Alexander. "The Federalist Papers No.
1." 1787. 5 Mar 2020.
<https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed01.asp>.
Joseph, Dr. Lawrence A. The Importance Of Having
An Official Opposition In Parliament. 20 May 2014. 6 Mar 2020.
<https://thegrenadainformer.com/columnists/item/1547-the-importance-of-having-an-official-opposition-in-parliament>.
Levinson, Sanford. Common Interpretation: The
Twelfth Amendment. n.d. 6 Mar 2020.
<https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/amendment-xii/interps/171>.
Makarenko, Jay. The Opposition in the Canadian
House of Commons: Role, Structure, and Powers. 30 Jan 2008. 6 Mar 2020.
<https://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/opposition-canadian-house-commons-role-structure-and-powers.html#intro
>.
Obama, Barack. "Press Conference by the
President." The White House: Statements & Releases, 8 Oct 2013.
<https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/10/08/press-conference-president>.
Patterson, Thomas. We The People. 13th. New
York: McGraw, 2019. pages 265 & 267.
Shapiro, Ari. Would The U.S. Be Better Off With A
Parliament? 12 Oct 2013. 6 Mar 2020. <https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2013/10/12/232270289/would-the-u-s-be-better-off-with-a-parliament>.
Wikipedia. 14 Jan 2020. 6 Mar 2020.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Government_watchdog_groups_in_the_United_States
>.
723 words (irrespective
of question restatements, opening quote and
Bibliography).
Mendocino College, POL200, Spring 2020, Professor Liljeblad
Mendocino College, POL200, Spring 2020, Professor Liljeblad
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