Democracy Diary: Politics = Power, not Talking about Politics

Let's talk about what to DO

Today, a lot of progressives (and promoters of right-wing authoritarianism, too) are going to spend a lot of time talking about politics.

But, as Eitan Hersh has shown in his book Politics is for Power, almost all the Americans who are political hobbyists — who spend time each day reading and talking about politics — don’t actually DO any politics, i.e., engage with others in activities to build power. Hersh argues that we — those of us who are political hobbyists — are part of the problem.

This hits home. I worked for ten years in environmental advocacy, almost none of it particularly effective. That was frustrating. This fall, my son asked me to join him in door knocking before the election — in races in Iowa City where the progressive candidates were always going to win. (I did it anyway because I didn’t want to discourage him). I worked on a mask requirement in schools (which succeeded, not because of my efforts, but because of a federal court case - because that was progressives’ only center of power) and watched myself and others use relatively ineffective messaging and tactics. We’re still organizing around specific issues (in this case, masks), while the right has all the power — in the state legislature, the governor’s office, and an increasing number of school boards, and a broad message (freedom as unlimited license, including the license to harm others) on which they can hang many different specific political initiatives.

Asked by a school board member whether there was any limit to the extent to which the governor could endanger the lives of school children (through the ban on mask mandates), the school district’s attorney said, “That would be hard to say. I think if we had a case of, say, a student with active smallpox, and the governor wanted to force that child to go to school, we might be able to find a remedy.” The governor has POWER.

So it’s not easy to know how to engage. Personally, I’m no longer willing to engage in ineffective ways.

Today Jimmy Carter wrote that he fears for our democracy: “I have… seen how…democratic systems…can fall to military juntas or power-hungry despots,” he wrote. He urged Americans to respect free and fair elections, refuse violence, pass election reforms that would make it easier to vote, and ignore disinformation. “Our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss,” he wrote. “Without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy.” 

Okay, Mr. President. I’m ready for immediate action. I respect free and fair elections. I refuse violence. I ignore disinformation. How, specifically, can we help pass election reforms that would make it easier to vote?

I did find the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which, “chaired by the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, Eric H. Holder, Jr., is the first-ever strategic hub for a comprehensive redistricting strategy. Together, we will rebuild a democracy where voters pick their politicians—not the other way around.”

I don’t want the perfect to be the enemy of the good. But also — I’ve been involved in a lot of ineffective politics in my life. I haven’t seen these folks active on the ground. I know that Democrats fired George Lakoff, don’t understand the importance of talking about our values, and seem never to understand that politics is about power (or the extent to which they’ve fueled the right’s fire by abandoning the working class). So I’m skeptical.

So: what groups are you involved in? What looks to be effective in increasing progressive power, and why? PM me, or add your views in the comments. Let’s figure out what to DO.

(Photo credit, Bruce Teague, Mayor of Iowa City, Iowa City Press Citizen)