Globally, Broad Support for Representative and Direct Democracy

[Dill]

(10-19-2017, 10:07 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I would make the argument that the progress made is not due to any party. It is due to the societal changes that forced the hands of those in power. CRAs are tied to liberal ideologies because they represent change and they represent government efforts to increase equity among the citizenry, but apart from those moves where hands were forced there isn't a good effort by those in power. They use the issues of people of color, women, religious minorities, and the LGBT community to gain votes, but they don't follow through on anything. They ignore systemic problems that exist throughout our country that perpetuate the problems of inequity. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but it is because the idea of equity is damaged by the neo-liberal movement. As long as the Democratic party latches onto those ideals, they will continue to only pay lip service to these issues.

I think I understand you point here. E.g., Johnson et al. did not decide one day to "help negroes" because civil rights violations outraged them. Kennedy was pushed by MLK to support civil rights. But it still required party machinery to pass civil and voting rights acts. And not all the people passing those laws were cynical about it. I don't think John Lewis' hands are "forced" when it comes to defending or advancing civil rights legislation.

Party certainly became a tool of reaction, too, if you agree the Republicans had a "southern strategy" in the 70s and 80s to harvest southern Democrats disgruntled by the Dems civil rights turn. This is before neoliberalism permeates the Democratic party. 

To me it seems your charges are most apt when applied to Bill Clinton's years in office. I do cut him a little slack, in that in order to stay in power, parties have to make compromises. Very hard to force laws on people before they are ready for them. Hence DOMA.  I'm not sure I would say they "ignore" problems. They just grease the squeakiest wheel. 

When all is said and done, I still see a political landscape in which battles are fought over legislation and the values embedded in them. It matters what laws are proposed and implemented and which judges are appointed to the bench. Sometimes things don't get done because they are actively blocked by the other side.  I'll keep thinking about what you said though, concerning the responsibility of parties for progress.