Beware the One-Party State
Lesson Three from "On Tyranny"
The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multi-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office.
There is nothing more foundational to democracy than free and fair elections.
Every two years since the founding of our country, there have been elections. While the franchise of who is included on the ballot and at the poll has never been has wide as it should be, for those included in that ever-expanding circle, the ability to pick and choose our leaders for ourselves has functioned relatively well, especially compared to the rest of the world.
The system of voting that is set up in the Constitution naturally lends itself to a two-party system; known as a "first past the post" system, the winner of the most votes gets the nod, which means it is logical for voters to sort themselves into two coalitions or blocks, to maximize their chance at victory. While third party challenges have had some limited success, especially at more local levels, broadly speaking, we've always had a two party system here not because of some corruption, but because our system works that way. First, Federalists and Anti-Federalists, then Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, then Democrats and Whigs, and finally the Democrats and Republicans we are stuck with today - this is the system we have always had.
It is the nature of a political party to want to monopolize power for itself. That is he point of a political party- to win elections. This makes it crucial that we, as voting citizens, avoid wrapping our identity up too strongly into one party or the other. Naturally, many of us will have one party or another we feel an affinity for. But, we must retain the ability to separate ourselves from that party, and to acknowledge its shortcomings and failings. This is where we are failing in America, especially on the political right.
Hyperpolarization has been happening in America for at least half a century now, but the trend of the Right in the era of Trump has accelerated this fact to alarming levels. Many conservatives can no longer disentangle their identities from the MAGA movement, and view Democrats and liberals not just as fellow citizens they disagree with, but as evil, corrupted, and worthy of total domination. That tendency exists on the Left too, certainly, but I think the Trump phenomenon has shown that it is far more dire on the Right.
A few examples show this. At the state level, we have seen alarming moves by the Republican Party in Wisconsin and North Carolina to enact policy that seeks to overturn the consequences of electoral losses for their party. In North Carolina, that has largely been via the moves of a lame duck legislature to pass laws taking away the power of the incoming Democratic governor, powers they had no problem with the Republican formerly holding the office wielding. The blatant partisanship is sickening. In Wisconsin, similar moves have been made against the governor there, as well as against the state Supreme Court and other parts of the judiciary where elections are used to fill bench openings.
More recently, President Trump's move to break with established tradition and fire the two Democratic-appointed members of the Federal Trade Commission is but one example of the consolidation of one-party power at the federal level, and the consequent attitude that having some sort of ideological and partisan check on the power of a party is good for the country, and for both parties.
January 6th is perhaps the most glaring example of attempted one-party dominance by the Trump-era Republican Party. The transition of power from one president to another, and often from one party to another, is a bedrock of American constitutional democracy, and has long been a shining beacon to the world. History shows that transference of power in governments is the time most often when political violence breaks out; the power of our own example to disarm this tendency has proven a boon to peace and democracy around the world. This is why the decision of Donald Trump and his most ardent supporters to refuse to accept their loss in 2020 - and their institutionalization of this after 2024 by pardons and the demand of right-think on this among would-be allies - is so alarming and damaging. There is nothing more important than the ability to hand power back and forth. A challenge to that is an attack on democracy at its foundation.
We should all always want at least two healthy and functional political parties; the desire to want all opposition smashed and eliminated is to make an idol of one party or the other, the elevation of a political party over self or country or fellow citizens. It is to cede too much power and trust to human institutions. It is to set yourself up to be oppressed alongside those you would like to see the party oppress in your name. As Timothy Snyder writes, "The logic of the system [the Founders] devised was to mitigate the consequences of our real imperfections, not to celebrate our imaginary perfection." The party will always turn against even you, its most ardent support, because what the party cares about is not you, but its own self-perpetuation - and eventually, even your existence and your freedoms will come into conflict with that reality.
Elections make everyone stronger - both winner and losers. In our democracy, history shows that no loss or setback is permanent; our system works because there is always another election - in two years, or four, or six. But, that requires trust, among institutions and parties and voters, and an assumption of good faith. When one party or the other breaks that faith, and violates that trust, the system fails to function, and bad actors seize on the opportunity. Most of all, elections require forbearance: the self-control needed to admit defeat, accept the power of another, and to not break the social contract we all are party to.
We must regain that trust in one another. We must come to see electoral losses not as monumental, earth-shattering, apocalyptic outcomes, as the Parties want you to believe, but as normal, and as part of the plan. We must remember that elections have consequences, but not finality. Lose, mourn, and then pick yourself up, and live to fight another day. In the meantime, be an opposition party, not a sworn enemy. Remember we all have the same goal in mind: a better tomorrow. Remember there are human beings on every side of an election.
In On Tyranny, Dr. Snyder writes, "Another early American proverb held that 'where annual elections end, tyranny begins.' Will we in retrospect see the elections of 2016 much as Russians see the elections of 1990, or Czechs the elections of 1946, or Germans the elections of 1932? This, for now, depends upon us."
Resist one party rule, even when that one party is the one you have historically supported. Welcome the results of all elections, shake hands, and have the self confidence to accept we will all live to fight another day. Only small, weak, and insecure people view electoral losses as personal affronts or oppression. Be a better citizen - be a better human being - than that.