By AAROL Member Homer E. Moyer, Jr.
Next year we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our becoming an independent nation, and in just a few days (September 17th) we will commemorate a less celebrated, but no less important anniversary—”Constitution Day,” the day delegates gathered in Independence Hall in Philadelphia signed our Constitution. Both milestones are good occasions to ask ourselves what in America’s history best explains the great successes our democracy has achieved over two-and-a-half centuries and what we must prioritize in the years ahead.
Of many possible answers, the most accurate may be—the national values our country has long espoused. In structuring our new government, the architects of our country embraced then-radical principles and embedded them in our Constitution. Those ambitious commitments defined our collective character and quickly became enduring national values.
Foremost among them was that in our democratic experiment the powers of our government would be limited, both expressly and structurally. “We the people” were entrusted with the ultimate powers of self-government. Our laws apply equally to all, including the government itself. Independent courts and judges were given the final say in interpreting our laws and constitutional blueprint. And, expanding on the promise that “all men are created equal,” our Bill of Rights guarantees individual freedoms, and additions to our Constitution make clear that our pledge of equality is not limited by race or gender.
These foundational features have distinguished our nation, and, notwithstanding its imperfections, our democracy has endured, prospered, and inspired other nations. Still today, in order to assume office, the President and every member of Congress must solemnly swear to “support and defend” these Constitutional principles.
Sometimes known by the shorthand phrase “the Rule of Law,” these values are reinforced by democratic norms. Public officials are expected to perform their duties honestly, respect their limits, and serve public, not personal, interests. The value of two major political parties providing varied political and policy perspectives is enhanced by their ability to collaborate and devise constructive compromises on urgent national issues. That skill—evident in both the work of our founding fathers and the structure of our government—is essential in managing a large, diverse, dynamic democracy.
Increasingly, however, experts on democracy are calling out worrisome democratic dysfunction in our country. Toxic political divisions are polarizing our citizenry; aggressive assertions of broad Executive powers have prompted numerous challenges of unconstitutional or unlawful overreach; and when the same party controls both Houses of Congress and the White House, an obediently loyal Congress can fail to perform its critical role as a check and balance. When more polarized than its constituents, Congress becomes unwilling and unable to address such pressing issues as ballooning national debt, potential Social Security and Medicare insolvency, epidemic gun violence, and widening economic inequality.
Although free of government ownership or control, media that allow political preferences to skew factual news coverage weaken their watchdog function, and, along with social media algorithms, worsen our political polarization. And politicization in nominating and confirming judges can erode the most established and independent check and balance in our government. While these trends may be viewed as passing or simply “warning signs,” students of government and international rule of law surveys have documented that democracies are not immune from straying from democratic principles and can, as we have seen, evolve into totalitarian states.
Which brings us to a democracy’s ultimate check and balance—the voting public. In our country, the challenge of serving that function comes at a time when civics education has been in decline for a generation or more. For a telling refresher, take the civics test all naturalized citizens must take and pass. At the same time, the broad, moderate middle of our political spectrum has largely lost its voice in the problem-solving, legislative branch of our government.
So, what can those of us armed with a single vote do? Perhaps first, remember that although no single vote can change the world, voters in democracies are, collectively, all-powerful. A less academic challenge is simply talking with others whose political views are different from your own, foregoing rebuttal or argument, and just asking friendly questions about what led them to their views. You may discover a few topics on which you agree, and come away friends.
Before you vote, find out if officials you have supported in the past have, in fact, been defending our core constitutional values in their work and working for sensible compromises. If not, they don’t deserve your vote, regardless of your political party or theirs. They should recommit to our national values, or step aside.
With our votes and our voices, we voters can be the defenders—and, as necessary, the enforcers—of our sacred national values. Early on, Ben Franklin reminded us that safeguarding them is basically up to us.
Watch Homer Moyer’s in-depth discussion with AAROL Steering Committee Chair Mark Dietrich, “From Eastern Europe to the U.S.: Defending the Rule of Law” here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Homer Moyer, a former General Counsel of the U.S. Commerce Department and a political appointee in both Republican and Democratic administrations, has led Rule of Law projects that have been active in dozens of countries.
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