DEMOCRATS MUST BE THE PARTY OF GOVERNMENT
While it is certainly true that trust in government is near historic lows — according to recent polling just 18% of Americans say that they trust the federal government to do what is right most of the time or always — belief in government’s role in our lives is nearer to all-time highs. According to a 2018 NBC News/WSJ poll, 58% of Americans agree with the statement that “Government should do more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people” while only 38 percent agreed that “Government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals.”
That should clue the Democratic Party into a huge opportunity. It should say that there is a realistic path to winning elections by becoming the party of government.
Becoming the party of government not only draws a clear distinction between Republicans and Democrats in terms of policies, but also in what we believe and value — that an effective government can help people and solve problems rather than get in their way.
What is the Government For?
I am aware that many politicians — including those in the Democratic Party — are wary of being too closely associated with government. It is a reasonable reaction to the previously mentioned lack of trust that people have in the federal government today. But the picture changes when we start talking about state and local governments, which are much closer to regular people’s lives and quicker (in government terms) in responding to their needs.
And so we must ask first, what is government for? When we do, the distinction between the two major parties today becomes clear. And so does the rather close alignment of the majority of the voting public and the Democratic Party.
On issues like immigration, gun control, climate change, minimum wage, social security, healthcare, and more — an overwhelming majority of respondents to recent polling favor policies like the ones supported by Democratic politicians.
It is clear that a great many Americans see a role for government…
- To take care of people in need,
- To protect us from potential dangers,
- To implement critical regulations,
- To make sure everyone is on an even playing field.
Good Government Does Not Equal Big Government
Government doesn’t have to be big to be good. The right has enjoyed much success by painting Democrats as the party of big government. Modern day Republicans see government as a problem and the smaller it is, the better. And they use this kind of rhetoric to push policies that cut spending and programs that people rely on.
When one entire party does not believe in government, it is easy to understand why the American people have lost faith in the system. And when that party has control, the problems seem to get even worse. No surprise there.
It’s a little like the mail man not delivering your mail and then telling you that the mail is broken. You would tell him, “it’s not broken, you’re just not doing your job. If you did your job, everything would be fine.”
Alas, the Republican Party more and more sees their job as getting government out of the way rather than making sure it helps people.
That said, Democrats should leave Bill Clinton and the Third Way in the past, where it belongs. Too much time has been spent on strategy and policy that tries to paint the Democratic Party as a party of small government, because that is “how we attract independents”. But just like big government is not necessarily a good thing, small government isn’t either.
A good government is both effective and efficient. It offers as much benefit and value as it can without unnecessarily inflated budgets. Every dollar it spends produces returns (whether those returns are felt in terms of revenue, or healthcare, or financial assistance, or enforcement of laws and regulations).
Party of the People
When the Democratic Party starts claiming their role as the party of government, they will also be claiming their rightful role as the party of the people.
How does that make sense, you ask?
Here, it is helpful to return to one of the points made above. Republicans have taken as their orthodoxy that government’s role is to get out of the way. But on close inspection, who does that help? It doesn’t help the people who today are benefitting from many beloved government programs. Instead, it shifts the benefits of government to their wealthy donors and corporations.
Republicans are the party of low taxes and low spending because that’s what the big money donors want. They are the party of financial and environmental deregulation because it means more money in the pockets of energy executives and Wall Street millionaires.
The party of the people would be a party that believes in government’s role to help people — to provide free access to education and healthcare, to make sure that more of the wealth that gets created ends up in their paychecks, to ensure future generations inherit a healthy planet.
The party that makes the government work the way that it should is the party that truly helps the great majority of Americans who do not already have incredible wealth.
If it’s Broke, Fix It
Arguments above must factor in the need to address the very real concerns that most people have about the way our government operates today. There is plenty to fix.
However, the way to fix it is not to destroy it. Unfortunately, we have a Republican in the White House and Republicans in control of both houses of Congress. And they are not interested in fixing anything.
If they were, they would not appoint a former state attorney general who sued the EPA fourteen times to run the EPA. They would not appoint a man who made a fortune in the foreclosure market to run the Treasury. And they would not appoint a man who has spent his whole life focused on deregulation to regulate the financial industry.
Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, it is easy to see which party is in this to give the American people what they increasingly say they want — a “government that does more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people”.
It is time that Democrats claim that mantle proudly.
