As we gather and celebrate our country’s Declaration of Independence this year, we mark 250 years of an experiment in democracy. Our history is filled with irony. Many of our founders enslaved others, the right to vote was limited to men only, the native people of this continent were systematically eliminated, and yet the language of our constitution has allowed the extension of the rights of citizenship to ever greater numbers of people. Establishing democracy, it turns out, was complicated and it still is.
America has muddled its way through one crisis after another. Some were crises of identity, a struggle to define who are Americans and who are not. After 250 years, we are still grappling with this issue. Other crises were economic; free enterprise has always been subject to booms, busts, corruption, and collapse. Today, we’ve witnessed the emergence of America’s first Trillionaire while at the same time a large portion of our citizens barely make it paycheck to paycheck. Warfare with other nations began shortly after our founding and continues. Our military budget is larger than the combined military budget of up to eleven of the next highest-spending countries. The irony continues.
Although national politics is now dominated by the power of money (some might say corrupted), local politics remains largely representative and accessible. Running for Supervisor or City Council largely relies on old-fashioned politicking. A transition to district elections for City Council presents yet another set of questions. Will enough qualified candidates emerge out of small districts? When elected, will council members feel obligated to their district or the city at large? The experiment continues.
How America will navigate its way through the future is a huge question. The effects of new technology like Artificial Intelligence are likely to be enormous and quite unpredictable. Will the nations of the world revert to self-protective nationalism or jointly try to address the looming threats of climate change? The challenges we face locally are just as serious.
Our local economy supports local government and the services it provides the community. Will local sales tax revenue grow or shrink? Will employment grow in the era of AI and remote working? How will the changes in the wine industry affect tourism? Will housing prices continue to rise into the stratosphere? Addressing such challenges is not a subject of idle speculation, but a matter of necessity, and democracy alone will not provide the solutions.
Public engagement in politics waxes and wanes. When political leaders are boring, people lose interest. On the other hand, charismatic political leaders often rely on populist, media-grabbing activity rather than collaborative efforts to improve society. We’ve become a star-studded blockbuster democracy, where celebrity counts for more than talent and creativity. Voting rates vary election to election, but there are many citizens who never vote at all and don’t pay any attention to politics.
Playing games with democracy doesn’t help. Eroding the separation of powers, gerrymandering of voting districts, partisan court decisions, and non-stop conspiracy theories all reduce voter confidence. We’ve muddled our way through tougher situations, however, and still can. The future of democracy is in our hands, if we will take hold of it and continue to wrestle it into shape. It won’t be easy, but then, it never has been.
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