Washington
The fall of a Speaker of the House of Representatives last Tuesday (3) for the first time in history is another symptom of the decline of democracy in the United States, particularly the twoparty model.
The assessment comes from Alexander Keyssar, professor of history and social policy at Harvard University and author of the book “The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States.”
“What we have seen is the decline of the Republican Party as an acronym that can integrate a twoparty system, which inevitably requires cooperation with the other side and concessions,” he said in a video interview with Sheet.
What were Kevin McCarthy’s mistakes as House Speaker?
This whole situation arose because he agreed to all the rules demanded by the extreme right in order to become president in the 15th round. He was, by definition, a very weak president. He said different things to different people. He made deals with radical groups to become president, but later made a different deal with the Senate and the president [Joe Biden] about the budget and did not stick to these agreements. These radical Republicans and certainly the Democrats have lost faith in his word.
We know that Congress is divided and that the Republican Party is in chaos. Is it possible to be President of the Chamber now without acting like him?
That is very difficult to say. The Republican speakers of the House of Representatives have been unstable since the 1990s. Newt Gingrich was a powerful speaker [durante o governo Bill Clinton] and was essentially overthrown in the 1990s after losing seats in an election. The two previous Republican presidents [a McCarthy] were John Boehner and Paul Ryan. Both also resigned or were expelled.
There appears to be no way that a Republican speaker of the House of Representatives can truly participate in government, which will always involve cooperation with the Democrats and also pleasing the farright wing of the party. The problem appears to be partly structural.
Mister. Do you think Democrats did the right thing by siding with radical Republicans and voting against McCarthy?
I don’t think they had a choice. They didn’t trust McCarthy either. Everyone saw McCarthy appear on the talk shows on Sunday and say the government was on the verge of a shutdown [na véspera] it had been the Democrats’ fault. If you want Democrats to support you so you can stay in office, you can’t blame them for a crisis they didn’t create. Their view was: We can’t work with this guy. And if we can’t work with this guy, we won’t save him.
For the first time in history, the Chamber overthrew its president. Mister. Do you see this as another symptom of the decline of American democracy?
Yes, but I don’t see a failure of the institution per se. It is a failure of the twoparty system. What we have seen is the decline of the Republican Party as a party that can be one of two groups in a twoparty system, which inevitably requires working with the other side and making compromises.
Mister. Do you think American democracy would benefit from a strong third party?
Yes, I don’t think we want 20 like in Brazil [risos]. For one thing, it would make more districts competitive. And it would also be possible that ideas and
Is a government shutdown more likely now?
It will depend on who becomes president of the chamber. If Jim Jordan becomes president, a shutdown becomes much more likely. He’s a rightwing Maga [Make America Great Again] militant. He will insist on spending cuts and probably not give any money to Ukraine.
Is it realistic for Democrats to get Republican support and elect a president?
I don’t believe that. I mean, if they stay tied for another ten rounds and can’t pick anyone, maybe there’s a small chance that could happen.
Part of the problem is that I’m not sure there are many moderate Republicans in the House. If anything, these are the people who might be willing to join the Democrats. But they will suffer very quickly in the primaries. They may be able to do it now, but then they would be unemployed, and they know it.
Democrats also have their differences. Why have personal animosities, rather than political issues, become such a powerful force in the Republican Party?
One of the reasons for this is that they don’t really want to do much. They don’t have a specific law they want to pass. Basically, they don’t believe in the leadership of the federal government [democrata].
What role will Congress play until the next elections? Will you be paralyzed?
Yes, you will be largely paralyzed.
This is also bad news for Joe Biden.
Yes, but it also depends on what exactly the paralysis will look like. I expect the government will run out of money but will get back on track because they can’t leave it unfunded for too long. But as far as getting other things done… There may be some key issues for moderate Republicans to work on with Democrats, but I think it’s much more likely that the government will remain closed until the 2024 election.
Xray | Alexander Keysar, 76
As a historian, he is the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2001. In 2004 and 2005 he chaired the National Commission for Research on Voting and Elections the Council of Social Sciences.