Statecraft in the Age of Political Tribalism

Prepared remarks by Mark Strand, President of the Congressional Institute on Statecraft in the Age of Political Tribalism to the Martens Centre 9th Transatlantic Think Tank Conference in Zagreb, Croatia, on November 18, 2019

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”  ― Ronald Reagan

Voters are increasingly turning against globalization and its traditional champions, and it shows up as a lack of confidence in government. This in turn, frequently creates an atmosphere where politicians become followers and not leaders. Seeking to connect to dissatisfied constituents, politicians will often begin to mimic their constituents’ discontent rather than do the hard work of solving the problems causing the discontent. My purpose today is to talk about that hard work.  

Increasingly those in government fear that what is tearing our societies apart is becoming stronger than what has held us together. This creates a lack of confidence in those who are governing. However, we know that all democratic governments get their consent from the governed. While there are certainly some malevolent people driving these negative forces, most people are attracted to a populist message out of frustration with their own situation, not hostility to government itself.

There are three possible responses to the challenge of populism. As I have stated, politicians can choose to join in, attacking the very bodies they were ambitious enough to campaign for. In the end, this is an empty path. While empathy is good politics, empathy is only a good if it motivates a response. 

Second, political leaders can tune out – believing that they know best what their constituents need, even if their constituents don’t yet know it themselves. This, of course, leads to a self-perceived benevolent elitism. But we also know, that while government officials may, in fact, have more information than the average citizen, they still cannot impose solutions without the consent of those citizens. 

Third, political leaders can lead – and by lead, I mean govern more purposefully, earning the consent of the governed by proposing innovative solutions to pressing problems constituents are challenged by, and restoring faith in government by showing faith in their people. 

I think the solution to the challenges of populism lies in having effective and interconnected legislatures. The battle of ideas is healthy unless you come intellectually unarmed to the fight, in which case it can be fatal. Democracy is a choice in which people come together to debate hotly contested ideas in an atmosphere of mutual respect. When legislatures fail at this, debate happens outside the legislative chambers and argument turns to animosity and political divisions increase instead of decrease. People want to know they have a voice in the solutions that are being debated, and it is their legislators, because they are closest to the people, who are most likely to hear their voices. 

We forget democracy is not the natural order of things – survival of the fittest and self-preservation come far more naturally to the human race. Civilization, of which democracy is a crowning achievement, is the taming of the natural order so that diverse people with different beliefs, religions and values can live together in peace. Constitutional government is a victory over tribalism because it is based on protecting the inalienable and inherent rights of the individual, not the group.

Constitutional government is a victory over tribalism because it is based on protecting the inalienable and inherent rights of the individual, not the group.

When democracy is working to the satisfaction of the people, they will invest in their own governance by voting, communicating with their elected representatives, and expressing their support for their government in their community – and thanks to social media, their community is much larger than it used to be.

When democracy is not working, people lose confidence in their institutions, become hostile to their “politically deaf” elected representatives, and express their dissatisfaction with government in their community – which, again, thanks to social media gives angry voices much greater projection than before.

So, we should not fear differences of ideologies or political dissent. This is the starting point for democratic debate and the purpose of directly elected legislatures. Elected Representatives should govern by developing policy solutions that foster good governance and that have empathetic responses to voter’s needs.

The United States had a strong populist challenge at the end of the 19th Century, and we solved it by listening to the voters, proposing solutions, and then boldly implementing them over twenty years. They did lots of good governing things: 

• They started by enacting civil service laws to reduce corruption in government hiring practices;
• They banned big banks and other corporations from making political contributions – thus diffusing power not only from government but from big monopolies as well;
• They created a budget process for the government;
• They passed worker safety and child labor laws;
• They passed three Constitutional amendments in, for the U.S., rapid succession – they created an income tax, gave women the right to vote in federal elections, and required Senators to be directly elected by the people. They got a little carried away, perhaps, when they banned alcohol.

These reforms created a period of immense prosperity that would last until the Great Depression. In the U.S., people had far more faith in their government after these great reforms. They were never significantly tempted by the ideas of communism and fascism despite a 25% unemployment rate during the Depression. We are due for another age of reform in the United States. But then again, that’s the great thing about democracies. If you understand that all people are fallible, you can be comfortable with the idea of striving for a “more perfect union” rather than searching for the impossible utopia offered by the discredited ideologies of the 20th Century.

Every country has an executive, whether it is a King, Queen, Emperor, Dictator, Chairman of the Politburo, Prime Minister, or President, but functioning democracies have healthy legislatures. What prevents the Executive from having dictatorial powers are the checks and balances built into constitutions. It is legislatures that provide a check on executive power and who become incubators of new policy ideas.

The key to this, I believe, are legislators. Legislators should strengthen their role by doing what they are supposed to do, legislate good policy and give voice to the needs and desires of their constituents. The tough part is that they then need to go back to their constituencies and explain why their policy solutions effectively respond to citizen’s voices. 

Every country has an executive, whether it is a King, Queen, Emperor, Dictator, Chairman of the Politburo, Prime Minister, or President, but functioning democracies have healthy legislatures. What prevents the Executive from having dictatorial powers are the checks and balances built into constitutions. It is legislatures that provide a check on executive power and who become incubators of new policy ideas.

The U.S. and Europe do not exist in vacuums. We share many of the same problems. Why shouldn’t we work on sharing the solutions? Legislator-to-Legislator dialog is paramount from the point of view of governing. I do not need to explain this to you. The European Union began by making sure people of different nationalities came together to solve common problems. The European Parliament is the one place where citizens of the European Union directly elect those who will give voice to their concerns and, hopefully, develop solutions to those concerns by proposing effective policy.

Long-term, the transatlantic alliance’s foundation depends more on our legislatures than on who is President of the United States or the European Union institutions. Chief executives come and go, but legislatures who are closest to the people, are more permanent. Also, legislators are the ultimate realists – they are the ones whose political life and death directly depend on whether the voters think their voices have been heard and their concerns addressed.

For those worried about the EU-US relationship, I believe the solution lies in the interconnectedness of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament. Think tanks are great, starting with the Martens Center and the Congressional Institute, of course, but their effectiveness comes from directly supporting the work of the elected legislators to whom they have the greatest access. 

People’s concerns are real, even if they are often founded on their fears rather than their hopes. This is cyclical and can be addressed if we choose to do so. Citizens of the U.S. and Europe need to see their elected representatives working together for the common good. There is a huge difference between listening to people and mimicking them with poll-tested political rhetoric bashing Presidents and Institutions and listening to people and coming up with innovative solutions to their greatest fears and needs. 

Tribalism seems to be a fashionable term these days – but only in the third person. Our opponents engage in tribalism while we represent our home-grown values. In reality, tribalism is an effect of severe populism, which is an effect of bad governance based on identity politics. It is not the cause of populism, but it’s a flammable propellant that makes it worse. By definition, this kind of politics divides us and increases destructive populism. 

In reality, tribalism is an effect of severe populism, which is an effect of bad governance based on identity politics. It is not the cause of populism, but it’s a flammable propellant that makes it worse. By definition, this kind of politics divides us and increases destructive populism. 

The answer to populism is better governance. That’s sounds simplistic, I know, but to quote Ronald Reagan again, “Just because an idea is simple does not mean it is easy.”

Let us focus on building even stronger relations between our legislatures based on shared principles, values, and concerns. Let’s keep in mind that when we dismiss or belittle legislatures, we are dismissing the direct choice of those who elected them. Where they are strong, we should support their actions. Where they are weak, we should help build them up. Because in the end, the success of our democratic institutions, which is by no means guaranteed by history’s judgments, is where the great reforms we need are going to happen.