I Can't Believe It's Government

Part 2 in our series on government.

“… Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”

- Winston Churchill, November 11, 1947 in a speech at the House of Commons 

As we discussed last week, the United States is a “Representative Democracy”; that is, a democracy wherein we elect our representatives and those representatives pass laws that represent the will of the people.

Where do those laws come from? How do our elected representatives, at the state and federal level, identify what issues to target and what legislation to pass?

Every week over at our Instagram feed, we highlight a strange law that is still on the books. These laws are often remnants of times long past, addressing issues that are vestiges of technologies and societal thinking that are no longer relevant. Through exploring one of these laws, we can better understand the legislative process.

(Many of the details below come from Geoff Schumacher’s 2013 article in the Ames Tribune and Professor David Seim’s excellent 2008 publication in the Annals of Iowa (PDF).

In 1943, with World War II raging and the country embroiled in the war effort, the Iowa State College issued pamphlet #5 in their Wartime Farm and Food Policy Series. Under Professor Theodore W. Schultz (who had a reputation for confrontation with special interests), ISC emphasized policy-oriented social science research, presented directly to the public without regard for private industry. Pamphlet #5, titled “Putting Dairying on a War Footing”, argued that Americans should use more margarine instead of butter. The report suggested that margarine has similar flavor and nutritional value to butter; an idea that’s been discussed for more than half a century:

At the time, Iowa was one of the nation’s leading dairy producers. The local dairy industry objected loudly and ended up taking their fight to the press. A series of editorials, newspaper articles and public letters were issued, arguing that the pamphlet would negatively impact a key Iowa industry and affect local citizens. Staff at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) weighed in on the side of ISC. The American Dairy Association (ADA) sponsored full page ads in local newspaper depicting ISC researchers as crackpots with a hidden agenda against the dairy industry.

Many of the state interests (for example, the Iowa Dairy Association) argued that the ISC had a duty to consider that Pamphlet #5 would cause major harm to a very important local industry that powered Iowa’s economy. National interests expressed outrage that the school capitulated to local special interests. Ultimately, it took years for ISC to rebuild its national reputation following the publication of Pamphlet #5. 

The underlying controversy behind Pamphlet #5 represents the tension that a democracy faces in balancing the competing needs of different interests. In fact, Iowa Legislative Code §191.5 states:

In the 1993 movie Dave, an ordinary citizen, played by Kevin Kline, substitutes for the real president who is incapacitated by a stroke. In trying to find $650 million in the budget for a homeless program, Dave works to balance the needs of multiple departments:

Dave’s desire for a homeless program came from meeting individuals impacted by a government cut to the spending necessary for the program. Spurred into action, Dave worked with multiple departments to find the money needed for the program.

This is how government is supposed to work. Multiple groups, including individuals, agencies, and, even special interests, banding together to share in the public good.

We quoted Winston Churchill above. The full quote is instructive:

   “Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, continuously rule, and that public opinion, expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.”

Our next post will tackle how legislation becomes law and where citizens and lobbyists fit in.

This article originally appeared on our blog.

#butter #margarine #specialintersts #Churchill #Democracy