Sunday, January 25, 1998

For Texas Voters, It's Party Time

By David Dillman

In 1942 political scientist E.E. Schattschneider wrote that "political parties created democracy and that modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of the parties." It may be that this lofty view of political parties claims too much. Nonetheless, parties have been considered important organizations for promoting equal representation and democratic accountability.

But today many people believe political parties are irrelevant anachronisms, if not the enemy of democracy.

It is true our contemporary party system is in disarray. Over the last 30 years there has been a significant weakening in citizens' attachments and loyalties to either major party. The decline in voter turnout is well known. Those who do vote are now more inclined to respond to candidates as individuals rather than members of a particular party.

Candidate-centered voting is reflected in the record rate of voters casting split-ticket ballots and in the increasing number of voters who consider themselves political independents rather than identifiers with a major party.

Independents outnumber Republicans and Democrats. Candidate-centered campaigns have increased the importance of raising money to pay for 60-second campaign spots that market candidates like products and professional campaign consultants who have little concern for governing and, too often, little regard for the truth.

This decline in party loyalty among the American electorate is attributable, in part, to the weakening of parties as organizations. Even among political activists, it is not uncommon for loyalty to party to be subordinated to ideological or personal goals. In addition, national and state party leaders no longer control central elements of the electoral process, such as the selection of candidates, campaigns and fund-raising.

Often local party organizations are unwilling or unable to provide much help to candidates waging campaigns in the mass media/cyperspace age. Into this vacuum step the candidates who organize their own campaigns and raise their own money.

Freed from the constraints of party organization and voters' loyalty to party, elected officials are more responsive to nonparty pressures -- local interests, powerful interest groups and media. The result is that Democrats are more liberal and Republicans are more conservative than at any time over the last 25 years. Ironically, then, partisanship in Congress is currently relatively high despite the increasingly nonpartisanship of voters.

Though Republicans are the majority in Congress, its leaders have been unable to consistently translate their control into programmatic victories, stymied by divided government and separation of powers. Repelled by the intense partisanship in government and disappointed by policy gridlock, voters have responded by being increasingly dissatisfied with both major political parties. Voters' angst, in turn, contributes to the increasingly marginal role of parties.

Troubling consequences

The diminished role of political parties in electoral politics portends four troubling consequences for American democracy:

-- Weak parties reduce the opportunities that citizens -- particularly middle- and low-income citizens -- have to join with their leaders in solving our collective problems.

-- When parties become merely labels for self-selected candidate entrepreneurs, it is more difficult to bring together through bargaining and compromise the many diverse interests in the political arena so that political extremes are constrained. In other words, two strong parties are a source of moderation and stability for the political system.

-- Weak parties reduce the capacity of citizens to evaluate candidates and to hold elected officials accountable for what they do.

n As parties have atrophied, so has the nation's capacity for the deliberation and discussion that is necessary for a healthy democracy.

With so much at stake, the revitalization of our parties must be a top priority. Party renewal would require a variety of reforms involving how parties are organized, changes in election and campaign finance laws and changes in the attitudes of voters. These necessary reforms, however, will not happen at all if citizens continue to desert the parties.

David Dillman, who teaches at Abilene Christian University, is chair of the Taylor County Democratic Party.