4 hours Ago
It has been a long night of terror for American pluralism and democracy. The Republican Party since 2016 has burrowed ever deeper into authoritarian terrain. You don’t have to be a political scientist to register that reality.
Democratic political parties aren’t awash in lies and they don’t nominate criminals and coup plotters to leadership. Not so complicated, really. Trumpism is a daily assault on many targets, including basic decency.
But among them is optimism. When lies are common currency, and democratic values and practices are under persistent assault, it’s easy to feel despondent about the future. That’s why talk of a “Fourth Founding” can be both a compelling exercise of imagination and a momentary balm for political anxiety.
Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US politics and policy. Previously, he was executive editor for the Week and a writer for Rolling Stone. The great American historian Eric Foner cast Reconstruction as the nation’s “Second Founding,” when the Constitution was remade after the Civil War to expand liberty to Black Americans.
Others applied that template to the Civil Rights era. In burying Jim Crow and enshrining rights in the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, the U.S.
finally realized democracy in the mid-1960s – the Third Founding. (The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which opened the nation to immigrants from Asia and other formerly restricted regions, had its own profound influence on American pluralism.) Each of those breakthroughs was preceded by crisis – the Civil War in the 19th century and the Massive Resistance of White supremacists in the 20th century.
Is it possible that the authoritarian crisis embodied by MAGA could ultimately trigger another breakthrough – a Fourth Founding? “I think we have the opportunity to do that here, hopefully sooner rather than later,” said Ian Bassin, executive director of Protect Democracy. “Or at least we can if we do our part.” A Fourth Founding would consist of both enhanced rights for voters – a constitutional right to vote, for example, which has never existed.
And structural changes to reform anti-democratic practices. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in a report on “reinventing American democracy for the 21st century,” called for a range of actions, including enlarging the House of Representatives, with smaller districts, to bolster connections between representatives and their constituents, and imposing 18-year term limits on Supreme Court justices. Some pro-democracy groups support reforms such as ending the U.
S.’s winner-take-all, first-past-the-post elections. They encourage multi-member legislative districts and fusion voting to enable smaller parties to wield influence and mitigate the polarization of a two-party contest for power.
Legislation to curtail extreme gerrymandering and other power grabs would bolster the fairness of elections and representation – as well as likely perceptions of fairness. Even in the light of a prospective post-crisis dawn, however, some democratic efforts might be more than American politics can manage. Given the antipathy that characterizes current politics and a widespread lack of faith in both institutions and partisan opponents, it’s hard to imagine how we break into the promised land of a Fourth Founding without first engendering civic renewal.
“There will need to be some sort of civic spiritual revival that is not about government laws and policies,” Bassin said while noting that “there are government laws and policies that could help enable it.” There may be tension, however, between the desire for a Fourth Founding and the desire for a less contentious political culture. Both Reconstruction and the Civil Rights eras proceeded not from national comity but from brutal conflict culminating in the abject defeat of the most racist and reactionary elements in the nation.
It is good to dream of what might be when democracy’s crisis gives way to a better day. Meantime, the crisis continues. MAGA, undefeated, is vying for greater power.
A Fourth Founding will have to wait until more urgent matters are resolved. We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website.
By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use . More information is found on our FAQs . You can modify your screen name here .
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve. Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below.
If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe . Questions? Please see our FAQs . Your commenting screen name has been updated.
Send questions/comments to the editors..
