Democracy Diary: We're looking for a few good Republicans
Experts who've studied how countries avoid autocracy say it's a critical piece of the puzzle
Recently, I came across Republicans for Democracy: American democracy may depend on a conservative-liberal alliance.
The article discusses an interview with Steven Levitsky, one of the authors of How Democracies Die, in which the authors discuss their decades studying countries that succumb to and others that avoid sliding into autocracy.
It turns out one of the keys is for the party of the same left/right orientation as the would-be autocrats must, in the short term, align with those at the other end of the spectrum.
Levitsky says, “A classic dilemma of democracy, going back to the mid-20th century, is how to respond to a political party that uses democracy’s very openness to gain power and attack democracy. One response that has worked in the past in other countries in the 1930s (e.g. Belgium, Finland) that have overcome this dilemma is for broadly small-d democratic parties, even with big ideological differences, to overlook their differences in the short run to contain autocratic leaders or parties. Big coalitions are often necessary in the short run.”
What this would likely mean is that the Democrats would have to moderate their positions even further. (They’ve already moved significantly rightward in the past fifty years as they chase the Republicans in that direction — Democrats today are significantly to the right of Eisenhower on a number of issues like health care for all, which Eisenhower supported.) This would likely be necessary to make those on the right would be comfortable to join them.
It would also mean that the progressive wing of the Democratic party would likely have to be further marginalized. On the other hand, President Biden has already had to abandon most of the agenda that fit with his original strategy, which was to demonstrate, through the rest of Build Back Better, that government can once again work and deliver for ordinary Americans. In his view, this is the best counter to Trumpism. Since the Democrats have already failed to enact the progressive-leaning and mainstream Democratic policies that are wildly popular, it’s hard for me to see how Dems could continue to be elected, even if allied with Republicans for Democracy, if they moderate their policies any further. On the other hand, it’s not like the Dems any longer have much to lose — having already given away the farm by consenting to vote for one part of the infrastructure bill while relying on promises (now broken) to pass the rest; and having frittered away the momentum and energy immediately after the election without passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
As I’ve said before — we don’t have many remaining options.
So who’s in for recruiting our favorite Republicans who still want to democracy?