The demise of democracy
We love the House of Representatives. Cokie’s parents, Hale and Lindy Boggs, belonged to that body for a total of almost 50 years. Cokie’s seventh birthday party was held in the House dining room. As reporters, we both spent many fruitful years covering Capitol Hill.
So it pains us deeply to say that the House is crumbling at its core. Its members have become arrogant and unaccountable. The arm of government designed to be closest to the people no longer has to answer to the popular will.
Here’s the problem. Over the last two decades, both parties have conspired to draw Congressional districts that protect incumbents or guarantee victory for one side or the other.
Look at this year’s election. Outside of Texas, only three incumbents lost their seats, a re-election rate of 99 percent. This year’s balloting was the least competitive in the nation’s history. And two recent episodes demonstrate the corrosive effects of that trend.
House Republicans dropped an 11-year-old rule that requires any member facing indictment to vacate a leadership post. This ethical benchmark was casually dumped overboard to protect one man, Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, probably the most powerful figure on Capitol Hill.
A few Republican voices have protested the rule change. Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut said: “We were elected in 1994 because we were different. I see a constant and steady erosion in what made us different.” Conservative columnist David Brooks of The New York Times accused DeLay of “playing close to the ethical edge for years” and called him “a scandal waiting to happen.”
But those critics were brushed aside for a simple reason: Republicans have no fear of electoral retribution. Virtually all of them are in safe seats. They run no risk in abandoning their own ethical standards.
A similar incident occurred last weekend when two powerful Republican barons, Duncan Hunter of California and James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, blocked consideration of a bill restructuring the nation’s intelligence services.
No matter that the reorganization was favored by the 9/11 commission, a bipartisan conference committee, and the president. Hunter and Sensenbrenner didn’t care.
Even if the country suffers another terrorist attack while Congress dithers, the two lawmakers and their obstructionist allies are completely unaccountable to the voters. Their gerrymandered districts — and huge campaign war chests — immunize them from the consequences of their own actions.
What can be done? It’s hard to imagine that lawmakers who benefit from the current climate will make changes that increase competition and accountability. But more states should follow the example of Iowa, which gives a nonpartisan commission the job of drawing Congressional lines every 10 years.
Those limits are badly needed. The noblest institution of representative government no longer works. How can America preach democracy to the rest of the world when it does not practice democracy at home?
Steve and Cokie Roberts can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected].