To Impeach? The Answer Is in Your Gut

Cooperation was essential for survival in hunter gatherer times. It has to be a lot easier to kill a bear with a team of hunters rather than going it alone. 

Anthropologists explain that hunter gatherer groups made decisions collectively (~70 people)—all adults had a say. This way of living required maintaining equality within the community. An ‘egalitarian ethos’ took shape that actively promoted cooperation. [1]

When an individual within a group exerted too much power, they were ignored. If this approach did not effectively alter the dominant person’s behavior she or he was excommunicated, if not killed. [1] This primal response to suppress the alpha is strikingly similar to a modern day impeachment.

Impeachment was written-in to the U.S. Constitution to hold a politician accountable for their actions and–if found to be guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors– removal from office. 

Impeachment was a critical mechanism for the founders who knew all too well the challenges corrupt kings and queens presented. But it wasn’t the wisdom of one generation that led to creation of a new democracy and the idea of impeachment. 

Thousands of generations of people lived primarily under hierarchical rule for the last 12,000 years. This type of rule began to arise in the Neolithic period, when humans evolved from hunter gatherers to farmers. [2]

Incredibly, it wasn’t until the American Revolution that democracy began to take hold. [3] And it did so globally. (The Greeks had a short stint with democracy 2,500 years ago but the government did not survive. [4]). In fact, when you look at human history over a long arch, authoritarian leadership is a relatively new idea.  The vast majority of the last 200,000 years humans lived as equals.[1]

Perhaps this is why the founders determined that impeachment is a political issue rather than a legal one. Everyone has equal right to their point of view–no legal degree required. (While it is the Senator’s job to decide whether to convict a sitting President, nothing changes a politician’s mind more effectively than the threat of losing office from an electorate on the opposite side of a major issue.) 

Yes, the legal experts will opine on how a President broke the law, or how he did not. They will use definitions put forth by the founders (eg, bribery) to describe a President’s behavior. Yet all of the legal terms applied are really about one thing–was there abuse of power.

At the end of the day the decision to impeach is based on a gut feeling. Intuitively we know what abuse of power is. It’s in our DNA. 

Reference: 1. Boehm C. (2001) Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior. Harvard University Press. 2. Culture Matters in the Neolithic Transition and Emergence of Hierarchy in Thy, Denmark: Distinguished Lecture. American Anthropologist 2004;106(1):111-125. 3. USHistory.org. Foundations of American Government. https://www.ushistory.org/gov/2.asp. 4. National Geographic. Democracy (Ancient Greece). https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/democracy-ancient-greece/.

This article is the first of a series of articles on the biological basis of democracy. Neil Adler is the founder of NeuroFire Consulting–applying neuro and behavioral science insights to the development of marketing strategy and creative.