The Anti-Government Society

This is a review of the book by Mann and Ornstein that blamed government dysfunction on the GOP. It goes into more detail about the content than does an article that I posted earlier on the book. One bit of data really got my attention.  In 1964, 77% of Americans believed that government would do the right thing almost all of the time.  After Vietnam and Watergate, in 1974 only 36% of Americans held that view. Today, less than 20% of Americans believe that government will do the right thing almost all of the time.

Given the shift in public opinion about government, it made sense for the GOP to become the anti-government party. This was consistent with its historical support for free markets, and the deregulation of business. It also was consistent with its positioning of the Democratic Party as the "tax and spend" party.  The democrats take your money away your hard earned money, and they give it people who do not deserve it. They based their election campaigns on cutting taxes, and promises to cut spending on social welfare programs.  They also sharpened their efforts to build up their political base in areas of the country that were responsive to social values.  The Democrats were positioned as anti-family, anti-american, and godless. Liberalism became the new Communism after the transformation of the Soviet Union ended the cold war. Newt Gingrich extended the attack on liberalism to the intellectual elites who supported progressive policies, and scientific theories which held that man descended from monkeys, along with the science of global warming.  Anti-rationalism was added the GOP's platform of things to be against.

The transformation of the GOP into the anti-government party made sense to politicians who place focus on winning elections.  The major concern, raised in the book, is that the US does not have a parliamentary system.  Nothing important can get done unless the two parties work together to provide solutions to important problems.  That is no longer possible when elections are based upon demonizing the opposition.  Cooperation with the devil is no longer an option.  It opposes the tools available to government to moderate business cycles. Monetary policy should focus only on inflation, and fiscal policy is regarded as a sin, along with the budget deficits that it spawns. The anti-government political party is the major reason for the governmental dysfunction that is apparent to everyone.

The GOP has positioned itself into a trap from which it cannot easily escape. It is not realistic to continue with its tax policies and the neutering of government in our current circumstances.  On the other hand, if it chooses to make rational decisions about tax policy, and rational cuts in government spending that are not totally focused on social programs, what happens to its political positioning?  It will differ from the Democratic party only on social value issues. Its political campaigns are based primarily on the evils of budget deficits and government spending on social programs.  Under these circumstances, the polarization of politics will only get worse.