... well, actually, I wasn't. But this obituary on Juan Linz, the noted Yale political scientist, underscores the reason why, contrary to conventional wisdom, divided government is a bad idea. Essentially, Linz argued that the United States' division of executive and legislative authority into separate, co-equal branches of government contained the potential for the ultimate destruction of democracy in the United States.
While that may be an exaggerated fear--or, at least, I hope so--it is at least a realistic one in an era of hyper-partisan political parties, at least one of which apparently loves conservatism more than it loves its fellow Americans (I'll leave you to guess which one that might be). Recent nearly-tragic events underscore why that fear might be realistic.
But, it seems to me, the solution to this problem is an obvious one: undivide government by electing a President and a Congress (both houses) from the same party. That way, both branches have more of an incentive to cooperate, because they will then both be committed to the same basic goals.
Sounds like a simple solution to me. Anyone up for implementing it next year? I sure hope so.
No comments:
Post a Comment