Over at QandO, McQ has a great post on Bruce Ackerman’s new book on the Founding Fathers:
We see any number of articles these days about the polarization of the electorate and the shrillness of debate. Most noting the polarization and the screaming are appalled. They?re interested in why this apparent condition has evolved and what we can do about it.
I’m not sure we can do anything about it. It is, unfortunately, a systemic flaw. In his book ?The Failure of the Founding Fathers’, Bruce Ackerman makes a very strong case that what we’re now seeing is the natural result of some flawed thinking by such giants of our founding as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. In fact, it was the election of 1801, which placed Thomas Jefferson in the presidency (on the 36th vote of the House of Representatives, the electoral college having been deadlocked) which changed the dynamic of governance forever. That election began the changes which have evolved over the intervening centuries to our present problems of “polarization” and “partisan politics”. Both of these problems are crippling our ability to have the type of political conversation necessary to move our nation forward in a united way.
Partisan politics is nothing new, and as McQ goes on to explain, it has been much worse in our history than the present day. Wars have been fought over contested elections — Lincoln in 1860. Near-wars have occured in the past, notably Jefferson’s election in 1800 and Hayes election in 1876 where citizens were drilling in the streets.
Still, the idea of the “peaceful transition of power” remains in effect, and is one of the enduring testimonies to the American experiment (as opposed to the tumultuous French experiment with representative government).
Sounds like another good book to read, but in the meantime read McQ’s thoughts. Probably one of the best posts I’ve read in a long time.