Not That I Visit the Huffington Post, But...
There was a very interesting piece by former Colorado Senator Gary Hart on the disintegration of the traditional party system of politics. An astute analysis, I thought. The point is that the world has changed so fast and so dramatically that old structures for understanding and operating within the world are fast becoming anachronistic.
Evolving and dynamic coalitions of interest meet the needs of today's active citizenry much better than rigid party doctrine. As connectivity increases, so will the ease with which citizens join to advance a specific cause or interest.
One of the values of the major national Parties is their ability to exert a moderating influence on the political debate. But recently both the Republican and Democratic parties have veered fringe due to the disproportionate influence of the wingnuts on each side.
If this erosion of moderating influence continues, the respective "bases" will be all that is left. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But it would certainly be a far cry from the party machines of previous centuries.
Evolving and dynamic coalitions of interest meet the needs of today's active citizenry much better than rigid party doctrine. As connectivity increases, so will the ease with which citizens join to advance a specific cause or interest.
One of the values of the major national Parties is their ability to exert a moderating influence on the political debate. But recently both the Republican and Democratic parties have veered fringe due to the disproportionate influence of the wingnuts on each side.
If this erosion of moderating influence continues, the respective "bases" will be all that is left. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But it would certainly be a far cry from the party machines of previous centuries.
posted by Capitol Hill Rentals @ 8:40 PM
2 Comments:
At 9:23 PM,
Cody Ryan York said…
The dominance of the two party system drives debate to be two sided. This is simply because there are two dominate voices. This world is far more complicated than this. Every issue is multifaceted. All sides of a debate should be represented on the national scene. The internet is the best tool to do this, because the leaders that control parties will never give up any power.
At 9:51 AM,
Capitol Hill Rentals said…
Parties are forced to accommodate a wide range of views under one tent. The need to moderate the extremes is inherent in maintaining the coalition of thought that makes up a party. For proof, watch the platform committees at the conventions.
Was it merely a coincidence that when soft money contributions stopped going to parties and began to flow elsewhere (527s, etc.), the messages on the airwaves got nastier and more narrowcast?
The far left and far right have always been "polarized". That's kind of the definition. The point is that party structure and influence has traditionally kept the extreme voices in check in favor coherence.
The shift of power and influence in the Republican Party to the religious right has been sudden and recent. You'll recall that 4 million evangelicals "were missing" in 2000. No stone went unturned in finding those 4M in 2004. In the process the party underwent an extreme makeover. The power of this group today is much greater than the days of the Pat Robertson's appearances in the Iowa caucuses.
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