The Future of
American Democracy:
A Former
Congressman'sUnconventional Analysis (2002)
KEY QUESTIONS/ANSWERS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
Glen Browder is Distinguished Visiting Professor of
National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School and Eminent
Scholar in American Democracy at Jacksonville State University in Alabama.
Dr. Browder has bridged the gap between classroom civics and real-world
government during a diverse career as public official, political activist,
and professional educator. His extensive public service (as United
States Congressman, Alabama Secretary of State, and Alabama State Legislator),
political experience (as party official and campaign consultant), and academic
background (as political science professor) have focused on political reform
and adjustment to a changing world. In The Future of American
Democracy: A Former Congressman’s Unconventional Analysis (University Press
of America, 2002), Browder questions America’s democratic destiny and encourages
national dialogue about the uncertain future of our “Great Experiment.”
2. WHY DID GLEN BROWDER WRITE THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?
The former Congressman says that when he left politics
a few years ago, major publishers were interested in standard college texts
and partisan kiss-and-tell books—but he wasn’t. “I wanted to talk
seriously and unconventionally about what I considered the most important
issue of contemporary public life—the future of American democracy.
Over time, I would learn many realistic, sometimes discouraging, sometimes
rewarding lessons about the writing and publishing world—and retrospectively,
the most useful lesson I learned was pretty simple: I wrote the book
that I wanted to write rather than what other people told me to write;
and I’m happy with the outcome.”
3. WHAT’S SO “UNCONVENTIONAL” ABOUT BROWDER’S ANALYSIS?
Browder’s analysis is an unusual challenge (comprehensive
in its scope, bold in its critique, yet responsible in its provocation)
to conventional democratic wisdom from someone who should know (based on
a unique combination of political experience and academic credentials)
what he’s talking about. Unfortunately, Browder says, “Current public
discussion about American democracy is a stale orthodoxy of simplistically-progressive
ideas buttressed by theoretically-limited and politically-cautious analysis;
furthermore, those who muster sufficient civic courage to sound the alarm
too often are afflicted with excessive ideological arrogance.” After
a lengthy career rooted in practical reform, he confronts conventional
democratic wisdom about the indomitable progression of our national democratic
endeavor. Finally, he suggests provocative but constructive recommendations
for the future of the Great Experiment.
4. WHAT IS THE THESIS OF THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?
Browder argues that America is changing in ways that
are important and unsettling for the future of American democracy.
Inevitable systemic developments and growing philosophical tensions over
historic ideals, cultural values, and principles of governance are turning
our national democratic experiment into an exercise in democratic distemper.
Our civic mix of people, politics, and government no longer works the way
it has in the past; and we seem to be tiring of the Great Experiment itself.
Therefore, it is time for serious national dialogue about America—including
some alternative scenarios and the possibility of a transformational “New
America”—in the Twenty-First Century.
5. WHAT IS THE CENTRAL QUESTION POSED IN THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?
According to Browder the central, disturbing question
for Twenty-First Century America is as follows: “Can our nation—a
people of growing cultural diversity with increasingly divergent ideals,
values, and governance principles, in a constrained systemic environment—continue
to sustain our collective pursuit of freedom, equality, and justice through
the traditional framework of limited, representative government?”
To put this idea into more urgent terms, “How far can America pursue the
Great Experiment without succumbing to the inherent, destructive tendencies
of democracy?” Or, more bluntly and rhetorically, “Is America dying?”
6. FOR WHAT KIND OF AUDIENCE IS THIS ANALYSIS MOST APPROPRIATE?
This book is written for people who think seriously—beyond
day-to-day politics and conventional liberal-conservative arguments—about
the future of American democracy. Browder has presented his thesis
in public lectures, classroom seminars, and public affairs programs to
a wide variety of audiences in the Southeast, the West Coast, the Washington,
DC, area, and even in Russia. Because of its sobering and challenging
message, he carefully adjusts presentations to the particular nature and
sophistication of his audiences; but most concerned citizens, political
activists, and public officials will be intrigued with the unique, creative
and constructive ideas of The Future of American Democracy. As one
reviewer said, the book is a bit difficult for the general reader, “But
it will repay the effort for anybody interested in our future as a free
and democratic nation”.
7. WHY IS THIS BOOK/MESSAGE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO CALIFORNIANS?
This book and its message should be especially interesting
to Californians because Browder suggests “The California Analogy” as a
contemporary, perhaps ominous, vision of America’s democratic future.
In a chapter on “What America Might Look Like in 2050”, Browder proposes
that California is going through inevitable systemic challenges slightly
ahead of the rest of the country; and Californians seem to be struggling—pretty
distemperately—in that process. After assessing Golden State society,
politics, government, and democracy as portentous embodiment of national
democratic distemper, he concludes that California is experiencing increasing
confrontation between popular forces and traditional governance; and he
recommends that California should merge its direct democracy mechanisms
(recall, initiative, referendum) and representational institutions more
cooperatively and deliberatively. Browder also generalizes
that “The analogous dynamics of the contemporary California political system
thus raise particularly tricky questions and provide some useful points
of guidance about important developments—the delicate, difficult, dangerous
interplay among diversity, divergence, dissentience, and democracy—in future
America.”
8. HOW DO “9-11” AND TERRORISM AFFECT AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, ACCORDING TO BROWDER’S ANALYSIS.
It is too early to assess the full impact of the September
11, 2001 “Attack on America” and the continuing threat of terrorism.
Browder dismisses any thoughts that these events signal the “dying” of
America; but these and similar incidents obviously will affect American
democracy. While the current surge of patriotic fervor
is likely to prove transient as time goes by, more serious consequences
will ensue as America attempts to protect itself against domestic and international
terrorism. Besides the difficult restructuring of national defense
and homeland security (and related budget challenges), the balancing of
societal safety and civil rights in the face of significant terrorist activity
greatly exacerbates philosophical debate about “what America means” and
“how America ought to work”; and this contentious struggle could have systemic
ramifications for our “Great Experiment”. Perhaps the safest and
most
positive prediction is that “9-11” and terrorism have rattled our national
consciousness to the extent that we can now seriously reflect on the uncertain
future of American democracy.
9. WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS, ACCORDING TO BROWDER’S THESIS, FOR DEMOCRATIZATION ENDEAVORS IN IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, AND OTHER CULTURES?
Essentially, Browder’s analysis suggests that we be
very careful and constrained in our attempts to export American democracy.
America’s original, open, natural environment and subsequent philosophical
mindset provided very advantageous systemic conditions for a “national
experiment in democratic ideals”. These advantages allowed a diverse
people to develop, over time, a limited, representative process of governance
whereby we might collectively pursue—unevenly but progressively—our fuzzy
notions of freedom, equality, and justice. America’s “Great Experiment”
itself is a tricky and ever-changing endeavor; and attempting to transfer
American democracy to less propitiously circumstanced areas and cultures
of the world requires honorable but arrogant naïvete. In fact,
any American efforts toward international democratization should be attempted
cautiously in humble, limited, incremental fashion; and we must proceed
on such ventures with extreme patience, hopefully some luck, and advance
realization that we may not really like the outcome.
10. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY TELL US ABOUT THE 2004 ELECTIONS IN AMERICA?
Browder’s thesis depicts the traumatic 2000 presidential
election as a critical juncture in the unfolding drama of American democracy,
a point of balanced but transient contention between “Traditional America”
and “Emerging America”; and he says that the 2004 election may begin our
fundamental transformation into “New America”. In particular, the
next few years may witness the triumph of centrifugal democracy (the unprecedented
spinout of political power away from Washington in subcultural and neopopulist
directions) and the exacerbating dynamics of demographic, economic, and
technological change. In other words, America stands at a point of
historic destiny at which we are ready to move beyond the traditional,
simplistic, mechanical politics of nationalized-but-disparate voting-bloc
aggregation; and the winner in 2004 will be whichever candidate/party can
divine and articulate a compelling national message (about what America
means and how America ought to work) in line with the irresistible forces
of centrifugal democracy and changing political dynamics as elaborated
in this unconventional analysis. If neither side comprehends these
developing transformations, Browder warns, then 2004 will be a mindless,
muddling, distempered encore of Election 2000.
11. WHAT ARE BROWDER’S PREDICTIONS/PROJECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA’S GREAT EXPERIMENT?
To generalize broadly, Browder claims that America
is indeed experiencing fundamental change and civic distemper of serious
nature that raise questions about the future of American democracy; and
he predicts several consequences (actually a mixture of predictions, projections,
and personal observations). Systemically, he says, America of the
future will operate in a fundamentally different, less propitious, and
more challenging setting than has been the case in the past two centuries.
Culturally, “Traditional America” (an historically-dominant white society,
rooted in rural, small town and middle regions, which subscribes to religious
convictions, community values, and relatively conservative government)
will yield to “Emerging America” (a growing, eclectic society of relatively
liberal and historically disadvantaged citizens in urban and coastal areas
who are inclined toward social diversity, moral tolerance, and activist
government). Politically, American democracy will never again work
the way it has in the past. Simply by historical definition of our
Great Experiment, unfolding demographic reality, and democratic destiny,
American democracy will move in progressive directions; but it will have
to accommodate the demands of centrifugal democracy and the technological
revolution. President George Bush has an opportunity to be a transformational
leader at this critical juncture in American history; and if Mr. Bush,
for whatever reason, fails to provide appropriate leadership, then his
successor will inherit similar challenge and similar opportunity.
Finally, if we mindlessly proceed on our current course, the United States
will become “The American Federation” by 2050.
12. WHAT DOES BROWDER RECOMMEND THAT AMERICA DO TO ENHANCE THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?
It is imperative, according to Browder, that the American people engage in immediate national dialogue on the future of our historic Great Experiment and that we begin adjusting that experiment to important and unsettling changes in contemporary America; and the 2004 elections provide an opportune venue for beginning the enhancement initiative. Ideally, one or more of the leading presidential candidates will call for fundamental debate and will commit to implementing a public forum on the future of American Democracy. Additionally (especially if no major presidential candidates or political parties take the lead), independent movements, civic foundations, academic associations, and the news media should begin such national dialogue.
As a practical beginning, Browder recommends the creation of an “American Democracy Commission” as a forum for national dialogue on the historic principles and procedures of American governance; more specifically, this Commission would reassess our concept of “national democratic ideals” and consider ways of increasing popular, responsible participation in the Great Experiment. Structurally, this Commission would be authorized, funded, and convened by the federal government; it would be representative/open to citizens (who are not public officials); and, term limited, it would report its findings and recommendations within a decade of its chartering date.
In keeping with his unconventional analysis, Browder recommends a series of functions and actions as American Democracy Commission mandates, including:
(a) A forum for discussion, from an historical perspective, of what it means to be a nation, what we mean by the term democratic ideals, and how we run our system of limited, representative governance; consequently, the forum would conduct analysis of contemporary changes that impact the traditional system of American democracy.
(d) Implementing a trial run for assessing these alternative ideals and representational mechanisms.
(e) Officially reporting—based on national dialogue, reassessment, experimentation, and limited implementation—its recommendations to the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches of American government.
Eventually, if sufficiently successful, these alternative principles and processes could become functioning realities—with more than advisory standing—in American federal governance. Through either statutory or constitutional adjustment, the American nation could evolve its democratic ideals and perhaps institutionalize a fourth branch (“we the people) to its federal system of governance.
Browder’s hope, then, is that we will take dramatic
steps now to accommodate transformational changes in evolutionary keeping
with the traditional nature of our Great Experiment (and that, in that
process, we will enhance the Great Experiment instead of mindlessly transitioning
to “The American Federation”).