On the fragility of democracy and its tendency to decay

FP: Fabius Maximus (A Washington Insider looks at America, but does not understand what he sees) comments on an article he read and some emails he received on the deterioration of the US political system and recommends to read the article. I concur.


Summary:  A Washington insider clearly sees the dangerous deterioration of our political system, but ventures outside Washington and misunderstands what he sees.  We can learn from his error.

 

From the always interesting James Fallows at The Atlantic:  “‘People Don’t Realize How Fragile Democracy Really Is’“.  Please read it in full, as this excerpt looks at only two points — both in red (my emphasis):

Two days ago I mentioned the “Goodbye to All That” essay by Mike Lofgren, a respected (including by me) veteran Congressional staffer who had worked for Republican legislators on defense and budget issues for nearly 30 years. If you have not read his essay yet, please read it now. … When you’re done, consider this message I received today, from another former Congressional staffer whose tenure overlapped almost exactly with Lofgren’s. This too is worth reading carefully, for it advances an important complementary point:

Like Mike Lofgren, I am a retired Congressional staffer who worked for a House Member from 1985 until January of this year. Unlike Lofgren, I did not retire voluntarily; my boss, a moderate Democrat, lost his race for re-election last November. I found myself agreeing with virtually everything in Mike’s article and immediately forwarded it to a bunch of my friends, some of whom remain working on the Hill.
The mainstream media absolutely fails to understand how little attention average Americans really pay to what goes on in all forms of government. During our 2008 race, our pollster taught me … that the average voter spends only 5 minutes thinking about for whom to vote for Congress {1}.
Privately, many of us who have worked in Congress since before the Clinton Administration have been complaining about the loss of the respect for the institution by the Members who were elected to serve their constituents through the institution. I don’t think people realize how fragile democracy really is {2}.
… now that I have been out of the Beltway Bubble, I have gained a little more perspective on how real people see the work of Washington, and I am scared that they are close to revolt {3}.

The second point is frequently discussed on the FM website.  The other two {1 & 3} contradict each other.  Interestingly, this political engineer does not notice this.

People who spending five minutes deciding how to vote are politically passive, especially when (as he notes) they vote on the superficial campaign slogans and attack ads.  These are people like those of the Roman Empire.  The Empire’s skillful political engineers ruled by giving the people what they wanted:  spectacles and cheap food.  Just as our ruling classes do today.  Fast food and  Fox News babes re-telling exciting morality tales...

Read it all and the article.

FP: BTW, I've often compared the current state of the US to the fall of the Roman empire.  The similarity is eerie.