Difficult-to-hear truths in "Sustaining Democracy" book

I guess it was good timing.

Just as the fight in Washington D.C. over the Build Back Better bill and related bipartisan infrastructure bill hit a crescendo the past few days, I started reading a book by Robert Talisse, "Sustaining Democracy: What We Owe to the Other Side."

I'd learned about the book by hearing an interview with Talisse on the POTUS channel on satellite radio. Even though it's a rather spendy Oxford University Press hardcover, I liked what Talisse was saying. (He's a philosophy professor specializing in democratic theory.)

The book is aimed at a general audience, thankfully. 

I've only read the first two chapters, but that's enough to give me a decent feel for Talisse's central points, a few of which I'll try to summarize.

Since I'm a political junkie, I resonated with his observation that democracy can be undermined by people who actively participate in politics. That seems contradictory, but Talisse writes:

Democracy can be threatened from within by citizens who are taking the enterprise of self-government seriously and acting roughly, as they should. In a nutshell, some of democracy's ills are caused by citizens' sincere and earnest political activity. More democratic participation can't cure those ills. 

How can this be? Well, a basic problem is the democrat's dilemma, keeping in mind that Talisse is speaking about those who participate in a democracy, not big "D" Democrats.

That's the term I use to capture the tension between the moral requirement to recognize the equality of political opponents and the moral directive to pursue and promote political justice.

Hmmmm. Equality of political opponents.

As a proud progressive, initially those words rubbed me the wrong way. Why should I view Trumpists who wrongly consider that the 2020 election was stolen to be the equal of those of us in the reality-based community?

But as I read on into the book, I realized that Talisse is correct: democracy demands that those of us who participate in it view our opponents as equal.

As is commonly observed, in a democracy the government must treat its people as political equals, as properly citizens rather than merely its subjects. It is somewhat less frequently noted, however, that this requirement applies among citizens as well. 

As democratic citizens, we are required to recognize our fellow citizens as our political equals. They're to be regarded as equal partners in the collective project of self-government. Among other things, their equality means they do not merely get an equal say in political decision-making, but are entitled to one. 

Democracy demands that we acknowledge that entitlement.

This is tough to do, but it has to be done. It doesn't mean that storming the Capitol in an attempt to overturn Biden's victory has to be tolerated. When our opponents go too far in their political protesting, they have to be brought back in line. 

Furthermore, democracy never requires us to simply acquiesce in or accede to the views of our opposition; recognizing their equality is consistent with abhorring their political views.

So somehow we have to maintain our commitment to social justice, while accepting that our political opponents -- who may have a very different view of what that justice consists of -- are equally entitled to participate in our democracy. 

In other words, we have to strenuously resist the temptation to demonize our political opponents, as much as we may feel this is deserved. 

In a democracy, however, even though citizens are called upon to take responsibility for their government by standing up for justice as they see it, they must also recognize the political equality of those who would enact injustice. Such is the oddly conflicted moral stance that constitutes a central virtue of the democratic citizen.

Comments

[E.M.]

"So somehow we have to maintain our commitment to social justice, while accepting that our political opponents -- who may have a very different view of what that justice consists of -- are equally entitled to participate in our democracy."

Wise words, Brian. Finding equilibrium without demonizing the other side who often chooses to claim clarity and a truth in opposition to your point of view is hard but useful work.

[Kenneth Darling]

Yea I actually agree with this idea. It is the common practice in both parties to view the other side as being "Evil" or "Ignorant" or "Trumpists/Leftists".
Of course I don't agree with everything a progressive believes, likely not even a tenth of their beliefs, yet for Democracy to be here for the coming generations we MUST get back to the middle ground, the absolutes of this once beautiful American Idea.
The problem is, and I'm going to upset a few folks here and that's okay, those on the progressive side of the aisle have simply gone way too far. Nobody in their right mind could truthfully argue otherwise.
What this causes is exactly what we seen in 2016, and likely to see again in 2024...the Americans who feel underrepresented stand up in a huge way and participate in the Democratic process by voting and electing in this case Donald Trump.
And what did we hear and see from the other side? Doubling down in their rhetoric, actions and quite frankly attacks on the very Democratic Process we speak of.
Another major problem with our politics is the lack of Accountability, fair accountability... The lack in discernment and discontent from the Media is what is causing a ton of problems. Whether it's the bought and paid for state ran media outlets CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC or the overly conservative outlet of FOX News, having no faith in our media is putting a huge scar upon our faith in elected officials and the election process as a whole.
But there is Great News that I must share.
Look at the voting totals of 2016 and 2020... Wow just look at those numbers! Am I really afraid of the whole Republic going down due to inactivity, or even over activity of an uninformed citizen body? Absolutely not. And the numbers back this up.
We have got to be atleast hopeful in the amount of political interest because it shows just how broad the political beliefs are spread out around the citizen voting body. You simply cannot have that many participants voting to not have a humongous wide range of beliefs and viewpoints. The very thing needed for our Republic to get through this rough patch of the "Loud" Hyper Partisanship.
What is very terrifying is the voting process in itself. Whether or not you agree, there is a major amount of citizens who lost faith in the election process in 2020. And it's not simply because Donald Trump lost, although some would like to claim this. It's because of the wacky, weird, deceptive, hyper partisan, violent, chaotic, govt overreaching year 2020 was as a whole.
Another major factor was the state elected legislature being over ruled by state attorneys and governorships... Anyone that denies this of happening are either willingly deceptive or just not informed with facts.

Either way I'm bout done, thanks for the opportunity to comment on your great post and whichever way things go my brothers and sister Americans, may God have mercy on us all and God Bless This Wonderful Beautifully Flawed Nation we call home, America!