People are constantly telling me some version of, “I wish I had your faith in Merrick Garland. I sure hope your faith is rewarded.”
Others tell me some form of, “I wish I had your faith that the system is working as it should.”
First, I’ll talk about “faith” versus “confidence in democratic institutions.” Then I’ll do a summary of the changes to the larger post.
I. “Faith” versus “confidence in democratic institutions.”
There are not many sources of authority for government.
Sociologist Max Weber, in his classic essay “Politics as a Vocation,” outlined three sources of authority that underlie governments.
First is what he calls “traditional” authority, which underlies monarchies.
Second is rule of law, the authority underlying democracies. Rule of law requires an adherence to facts and what sociologists call factuality. This is where we follow the law instead of the commands of an autocrat.
The third is what Weber calls a “charismatic leader.” Today, we might say “strongman” or “demagogue.” The strongman form of government rejects facts and takes as true whatever the strongman or demagogue says. This is the source of authority underlying dictatorships and fascist regimes. This form of government is based on lies and myths. It also has a lot of appeal. Autocracy moves swiftly. It’s fast-moving and thrilling. The purpose of government isn’t to help people–it’s to land blows on the enemy. Yale professor Jason Stanley calls it the Politics of Us v. Them.
Autocracy sets up a hierarchy, which also appeals to a lot of people. Under the 19th century American patriarchy, society was ordered with white men at the top and Black women at the bottom. People embrace hierarchy because they think nature naturally forms a hierarchy. They see people demanding equality as trying to displace them.
During the early part of the 20th century, the old empires and monarchies broke down. This set up a struggle for control between those who preferred a charismatic leader (or demagogue, or autocrat, whichever term you prefer) and rule of law.
If people lose confidence in democratic institutions or if they take steps to weaken democratic institutions, autocracy can set in. In fact, in the 21st century, most autocracies take hold after democratic institutions are systematically weakened.
Former FBI special agent Clint Watts reminds us that a goal of Russian active measures is to get people to lose confidence in democratic institutions. When people lose confidence in democracy, they become apathetic and cynical, and then it’s all over. If people are exhausted from panic and despair, how can they organize and mobilize and do what needs to be done to make democracy work?
One point I keep making is that rule of law is difficult. It’s frustrating. It strives for fairness but isn’t always fair. Perfect fairness is not possible on Earth, where human beings are flawed, and there is constant pushback from those who prefer autocracy. This causes people to grow cynical and reject democracy. But the only real alternative is autocracy.
“Confidence in democratic institutions” doesn’t mean “faith that we always get what we want” or “faith that courts will reach the right results.”
Confidence in democratic institutions means that we have confidence that democracy is the best form of government, and the alternatives are worse, so we care about democratic institutions enough to defend them so that they don’t disappear.
“Faith” is the counterpart of the “someone do something” theory of democracy. Both are wrong. Democracy is hard work and it’s up to each of us.
People call me an optimist (another source of annoyance for me.)
How can I be an optimist when so many of the people who should be defending rule of law, the people who claim to hate Trump and fascism, are spending most of their time attacking the very people who are actually defending rule of law (like Merrick Garland)?
What Biden set out to do in his presidency is to prove that democracy and rule of law can work. Whether he will persuade enough people remains to be seen.
One theory I have is that a lot of social media accounts grew large during the Trump era because they were really good at attacking Trump. They built confidence among Trump critics. Some of these accounts don’t actually understand how democratic governments work, so now that we have a democratic administration, they are attacking from frustration. Others are attacking because it’s literally all they know how to do. (Some are attacking because fear-mongering is clickbait. Just ask the producers of Fox.)
Democracy is not a religion, so it’s not about faith. It’s government by the people, and we are the people, so it requires a lot of work.
Meanwhile, J.J. would like to show off his new threads:
I just don’t think that it does much for his image as a ferocious guard dog. (That chair is his lookout post. He keeps a sharp eye on the neighborhood.)