How anti-democratic measures are eroding democratic norms in North Carolina
In the book How Democracies Die, Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky argue that backsliding governments may reject the democratic rules of the game in order to keep power, and may employ any means necessary to maintain that power (Levitsky & Ziblatt, 2018). One such example of a state government backsliding, in the United States, is North Carolina. The state government was deemed illegally constituted by their Superior Court, because it had been gerrymandered to disenfranchise African American voters. Beyond that, their willingness to violate long-standing democratic norms and play political hardball shows what a democracy without forbearance or mutual toleration could look like.
One such example of any means necessary is the evident lack of institutional forbearance, or “patient self-control; restraint… from exercising a legal right,” (Levitsky & Ziblatt, 2018) in holding a surprise vote. On 9/11, Republicans in the North Carolina House of Representatives held a vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of the state budget bill. Democrats had been informed that there would be no votes held that morning, so off they went to ceremonies to commemorate the lives lost in the largest terror attack on US soil. With their limited caucus, the Republican Speaker of the House called for a vote on the budget bill; it passed 55-9. Cooper describes it as “their most deceptive stunt yet.”
What the North Carolina Republicans did was not illegal; it was deceitful and divisive on a day where the country is supposed to be united. With some self-control and empathy, the Republicans could have recognized that their actions were not only disrespectful to their counterparts, but to all the first responders and victims of the worst case of domestic terrorism in the United States. The political hardball the Republicans felt inclined to employ shows the dissolution of institutional forbearance. Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that institutional forbearance is a “soft guardrail” of our democracy, and to see it disregarded time and time again is troubling. With the dissolution of forbearance, we could see a future of underhanded and disrespectful politics, undermining the prestige and sanctity of politics as we know it.
Gerrymandering is also a pressing issue, demonstrating the dissolution of mutual toleration in government. Gerrymandering is redistricting congressional maps in order to tilt political power in favor of one group. The objective is to draw electoral districts so that members of the responsible party are likely to win as many seats as possible, even if they don’t receive the majority of the vote.
In the North Carolinian House, Republicans only won 48.8% of the vote, but have control of 54% of the seats. I’m not a math major, but something there doesn’t quite add up. “In the 2018 House elections, Republican candidates won a minority—48.8%—of the two-party statewide vote, but still won 65 of 120 seats (54%).” This undemocratic plan intended to disenfranchise many African-American voters from having accurate representation in the state legislature. By drawing the districts the way they were drawn, many more people lost the power they are supposed to have in a representative democracy.
Moreover, Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that “… authoritarians looking to consolidate their power often reform the constitution, the electoral system, and other institutions in ways that disadvantage or weaken the opposition, in effect tilting the playing field against their rivals”. The apparent apprehension of Republican politicians demonstrates that they felt the need to tamper with the electoral process in order to win. “If we view our rivals as a dangerous threat… we may decide to employ any means necessary to defeat them,” according to Levitsky and Ziblatt; the case of North Carolina demonstrates just that.
Even though the courts eventually rejected the racially gerrymandered districts, their passage exposed a Republican Party ready to exploit its power to cripple its perceived enemies. This was further emboldened by the unconstitutional measures taken in order to achieve the results they wanted in spite of their political counterparts. A future of dissolving political norms is scary to think about: they’ve preserved American democracy since its origin. Nobody can say for sure the implications of what went down in North Carolina, but one thing is certain: the institutions in place can be undermined, and if this political behavior continues, democracy is in danger.
SOURCES
Levitsky, S., & Ziblatt, D. (2018). How Democracies Die. New York: Crown Publishing.
Wines, M. (2019, June 27). What Is Gerrymandering? And Why Did the Supreme Court Rule on It? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/us/what-is-gerrymandering.html
‘Most deceptive stunt yet’: North Carolina governor blasts Republicans over budget veto vote. (2019, September 11). Retrieved from https://washingtonpost.com/posttv/video/politics/most-deceptive-stunt-yet-north-carolina-governor-blasts-republicans-over-budget-veto-vote/2019/09/12/8ddf312e-af4f-4aa9-8973-6ffe2fc3f089_video.html
CBS/AP. (2019, September 11). North Carolina GOP votes to override budget veto while many Democrats were at 9/11 events. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-carolina-gop-overrides-budget-veto-in-vote-while-many-democrats-were-at-911-events/.
Common Cause v. Lewis (2019, September 3). Retrieved from http://www.commoncause.org/north-carolina/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2019/09/Common-Cause-v.-Lewis-trial-court-decision-9.3.19.pdf
Doran, W. (2019, February 22). NC judge throws out voter ID and income tax constitutional amendments. Retrieved from https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226652589.html.
Photo by Kevin Crosby on Unsplash
Hey there Abbi,
I also wrote about Republicans use of hard-ball and its detriment to our institutions and norms. I really enjoyed your perspective and the focus on North Carolina. The vote they held on 9/11 that you wrote about absolutely baffled me that is just completely unabashed taking advantage of institutions. Some argue that Republicans have polarized farther and faster than Democrats and are more likely to use democratic institutions to their advantage than their Democrat counterparts and I think that is a perfect example. Republicans fear of losing and their increasing inability to adhere to norms is definitely scary. I’ve added a link to this comment to a piece written for the Columbia Law Review about this concept of asymmetric polarization. You may have seen it but if not I think you will find it really interesting.
https://columbialawreview.org/content/asymmetric-constitutional-hardball/
Hello Abbi,
Your blog post was a very interesting topic. I really enjoyed reading about how Republicans are using gerrymandering to win elections. This is an important subject because, in my democratic erosion class, we are talking about how inequality is considered to be a resource curse theory. Your topic is perfect because if politicians are continuing to get away with ruining the electoral process, the next thing you know Democrats will be trying to do the same thing. Inequality by it self is already considered to be UN-democratic because inequality does not represent democracy. Incredible blog post!
Hey. Your blog post gave important information that I didn’t know about. We still today have a problem in government where the minority votes holds a majority power in politics. If government continues to play unethical games, the citizens that are truly affected by our government decisions will not have representation to make changes.
Hey Abbi!
I feel like you gave a thoughtful approach to forbearance within our political system. As you said, although the actions that the republicans committed were indeed legal, they were not appropriate in aligning with the spirit of good democracy. I find that one of the most fascinating parts about democracies is their innate fragility. Many countries with stronger constitutions than the US errode. Literally, the only thing holding any functioning democracy together is our decision to follow a code of behavior and restraint. The republicans that you mentioned did fail to do that.
I also want to touch on gerrymandering. It is such a black spot on our society,. It is wide-spread and rampant across both party sides. In these cases, I find the judicial system to be incredibly important. Serving as a safeguard against oppression, the judiciary has an incredible responsibility to hold all other branches responsible and accountable-especially in our current time.
Forbearance is an essential part of governing. In the same sense that some rules are meant to be broken, some rules are meant to go unenforced. The spirit of the rules and powers under any governing body should always be prioritized over what is written. Not every “Holding” call will see a flag thrown in a football game because the fairness of the game is more important that the rule itself, so there is no reason to penalize a hold that did not impact the play. This discretion is also needed in government. If one side is demanding that every penalty be enforced, they are punishing the people that are meant to benefit. A system of checks and balances with bipartisan efforts cannot be realized when one party cries foul and cheats. These tactics directly undermine democracy even though the representatives have a duty to uphold it.