Partisanship is the problem. Service is the solution.
It doesn’t have to be this bad. And yet, this is about as bad as it’s ever been. We aren’t outright calling for the forced internment of an entire minority group, and fellow lawmakers aren’t actually assaulting one another on the Senate floor, but our rhetoric is rapidly approaching levels of jingoism and rancor not seen since the Civil War and World War II. No one person created this environment. But there is no doubt that Donald Trump, who has recently drawn comparisons to some of history’s worst demagogues and tyrants, has fanned the flames of hatred more than any other. Some may claim that the overheated rhetoric is merely a product of campaign season, and that it poses no more threat to the long-term health of American system than a passing illness. But those who know better, most recently and most notably Speaker Paul Ryan, are now sounding the alarm. As he said in a speech to House interns earlier this week: “Our political discourse — both the kind we see on TV and the kind we experience among each other — did not use to be this bad and it does not have to be this way. Now, a little skepticism is healthy. But when people distrust politics, they come to distrust institutions. They lose faith in their government, and the future too.” Don’t believe him? Just look at the recent controversy surrounding the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.
The Constitution is pretty clear on what happens when we lose a Supreme Court justice. The President nominates a replacement, as he did with the selection of Judge Garland, and then the Senate votes on that nominee. One would think that this process would be fairly straightforward, especially for a devoted public servant like Garland, who played a leading role in the investigation and prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. But nothing seems to be simple in today’s hyper-partisan environment: Republicans have repeatedly vowed to delay hearings until one of the most divisive campaigns in recent memory concludes, and a new president is elected. All the while, one of the most important chairs in American government sits vacant and idle.
There is no doubt that this is in some politicians’ personal interest. But is leaving a yearlong vacancy on the Supreme Court really what’s best for the country? Does it honor the oath all Members of Congress take to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States” and “faithfully discharge the duties of the office”?
Politics was not always this way. We used to elect servant leaders to public office. And if we want to restore faith and confidence in our political institutions, we must do so again.
On July 4, 1776, 56 men of vastly different convictions and political beliefs came together to “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” in the belief that “these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.”
How have we gone from this statement of supreme unity and courage to the vitriol, anger, and lack of respect we see today? Many things have changed in the last 230 years, but one of the most damaging has been the rapid disappearance of the shared experience of public service.
For much of our history, the majority of Americans were asked to sacrifice of themselves for the greater public good. During the Revolution and the Civil War, an overwhelming number of Americans offered themselves, a husband, a brother, or a son to the cause of birthing and defining a nation. In World War I, the Selective Service Act registered 24 million men for potential military service. By World War II, 49 million Americans had registered for service and over 16 million served.
Today, just over 1.3 million Americans serve in our nation’s military, with another 81,000 serving in civilian national service programs like AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps each year.
What effect does this have on our politics? We need look no further than Bob Dole and Daniel Inouye, two soldiers who met in an Army hospital after sustaining severe injuries while serving in World War II. They struck up a close friendship, and both went on to serve in the US Senate: Dole as a Kansas Republican, Inouye as a Hawaii Democrat. Though both found great success, they were perhaps best known for their unwavering friendship and the bipartisan collaboration it yielded.
Dole and Inouye were just two of the many veterans in Congress who, at their 1971 peak, made up 74% of our representatives in Congress. Today, that number sits at 20% — the lowest in our nation’s history.
So why aren’t our nation’s young service leaders — military or civilian — choosing to continue their service in public office? In order to succeed in today’s personality-driven politics, aspiring public servants must master the art of shameless self-promotion, and too often put political posturing ahead of the results citizens need and demand. This is antithetical to the values that young Americans learn and live through national service programs.
Instead of returning to service through public office, some continue to serve by joining nonprofits. Others take the skills they learned while serving and apply them to the private sector. And yet others are contributing to the booming social entrepreneurship sector. These are all admirable pursuits. But if our brightest young men and women won’t be making the critical decisions that impact millions of Americans each day, and will shape our country’s future for decades to come, then we have to ask ourselves: who will?
There are glimmers of hope. A small but growing generation of service alumni, including Congressmen like Seth Moulton and Joe Kennedy, are slowly gaining traction and influence across the country. Rep. Kennedy has secured a seat on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, while Rep. Moulton has already established himself as a national voice on Middle East policy and veterans affairs. And dozens of service alumni are following their lead: from congressional seats in Delaware and New York to a gubernatorial race Vermont and local races from coast to coast, those who have already served our country are stepping up to serve again.
That’s why, at New Politics, we work every day to help bring a new generation of leadership to politics by helping promising national service alumni run for public office. Our political system is in peril, but with the right people we can save it and strengthen it for future generations. So if you know someone who has already served our country through the military or civilian national service, ask them to run for office. Ask them to serve again.
Emily Cherniack is the founder and Executive Director of New Politics, a Boston-based nonprofit that helps national service veterans run for office.
