Philosophy
Voters in Ohio have successfully filed a petition to vote on rolling back the shrinking of the state's early voting which was an act of the Republican legislature there. It is a part of a larger movement by conservatives to play electoral defense, that is, to keep people who would vote for your opponent from voting. It is one thing to play offense, that is, to either organize strong get out the vote pushes to make sure your people arrive at the polls or to do your best to convince undecided voters that your candidate is the one to vote for, but what about defense?
The idea that offense wins games, but defense wins elections was first publicly enunciated by Paul Weyrich, a major player in the rise of modern conservatism:We DON'T want everyone to vote. Weyrich is correct, the political power of certain interest groups does increase when the number of voters decrease. This is the explicit strategy of Republicans now -- see Ari Berman's article for a thorough account. They had been using the "voter fraud" ruse as a cover in the last couple of cycles, but at this point, it simply is what it is.
The thing is that it is all perfectly legal. What is happening is well within the bounds of the law. These are democratically elected representatives using democratic means to limit access to the democratic process. Kurt Godel famously worried about taking the oath of citizenship to become an American because doing so would force him to swear to defend the Constitution which he realized could be used by a smart and unscrupulous dictator to democratically create a dictatorship. That is clearly beyond what is happening here, but the sentiment is similar -- what is being done to play electoral defense is within the rules. Does that make it ok?
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Philosophy
Is it Moral to Play Defense in a Democracy?
Voters in Ohio have successfully filed a petition to vote on rolling back the shrinking of the state's early voting which was an act of the Republican legislature there. It is a part of a larger movement by conservatives to play electoral defense, that is, to keep people who would vote for your opponent from voting. It is one thing to play offense, that is, to either organize strong get out the vote pushes to make sure your people arrive at the polls or to do your best to convince undecided voters that your candidate is the one to vote for, but what about defense?
The idea that offense wins games, but defense wins elections was first publicly enunciated by Paul Weyrich, a major player in the rise of modern conservatism:We DON'T want everyone to vote. Weyrich is correct, the political power of certain interest groups does increase when the number of voters decrease. This is the explicit strategy of Republicans now -- see Ari Berman's article for a thorough account. They had been using the "voter fraud" ruse as a cover in the last couple of cycles, but at this point, it simply is what it is.
The thing is that it is all perfectly legal. What is happening is well within the bounds of the law. These are democratically elected representatives using democratic means to limit access to the democratic process. Kurt Godel famously worried about taking the oath of citizenship to become an American because doing so would force him to swear to defend the Constitution which he realized could be used by a smart and unscrupulous dictator to democratically create a dictatorship. That is clearly beyond what is happening here, but the sentiment is similar -- what is being done to play electoral defense is within the rules. Does that make it ok?
- The Sacred Right Of Complaint
With several elections going on today, it seems appropriate to bring out this one. I heard someone the other day utter the old chestnut "I vote because if you don't, you have no right to complain." It's a veritable cliche of American...
- Dc Congressional Representation
Today is the 51st anniversary of the ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution which granted the residents of Washington, D.C. the ability to vote electors for the Presidency to the electoral college. Folks who live in the District...
- Is It Good To Have A Check On The Voters?
Alexander Hamilton said ?The masses are asses.? Thinkers as far back as Plato agreed. Pure democracy puts power into the hands of the great unwashed. Political parties are not mobs bound together by rough ideological similarities. To be successful, we...
- What The Hell Just Happened?: Us Attorney Scandal Edition
In light of the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee yesterday, this seems a good time for another installment of "What the hell just happened?" [For the full timeline of all of these events, see Talking...
- Just A Reminder...vote
There is no doubt that the United States Presidential election for 2008 is historic and significant. There is an opportunity for new leadership and methodologies proposed for ending the Near East conflict and reestablishing a sound economic platform....