The two-party system is not working for American voters, who have little option but to participate in a repetitive electoral ritual of throwing out the party in charge in hopes that the other one can deliver something better. Meanwhile, class dealignment — the result of the Democrats bear-hugging failed neoliberal policies that appeal primarily to well-paid professionals while the Republicans woo working-class people with pseudo-populism and chauvinistic identity politics — strands the Left on the sidelines, making progressive change extraordinarily difficult. Something’s got to give.
The Democrats were just dealt a crushing defeat, shedding votes in just about every demographic and losing the popular vote for the first time in decades. With radicalized Republicans now controlling all three branches of government, and Democratic leadership perpetually wary of their own party’s left flank over anything that lurks on the other side of the aisle, the Left is facing the most hostile political terrain in generations. We need to take a step back, examine the playing field, and come up with a real strategy for political advancement.
The important but under-discussed string of ballot initiative successes offers major insight into how we should proceed. About two dozen states have lived under a Republican “trifecta” for years, and voters in many of these places have managed to pass progressive policies in spite of it. Republican-controlled Missouri just passed a $15 minimum wage with annual raises to match inflation, plus paid sick leave. They enacted abortion protections too, as did all-red Montana. They did it with ballot initiatives, or popular referendums, in which people directly vote on policy.
Direct democracy has enabled serious…
Auteur: Ben Case
