While many Americans, myself included, feel troubled by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, it's comforting to remember that American democracy has a lot more going on than just the presidency.
My town, Fayetteville, is blessed with great state legislators. State Sen. Uvalde Lindsey and state Rep. David Whitaker are smart, patriotic lawmakers who work hard and give freely of their time to political newcomers. Each earned leadership posts in the Legislature, rightly so.
But after 40 years studying and working in government, my favorite elected officials ever are Fayetteville-area Arkansas House members Greg Leding (D) and Charlie Collins (R). I've been privileged to work with each, finding each honest, energetic, accessible, patriotic, and incredibly well-read.
I've had wonderful discussions with Greg over the years, and recall when Charlie, a Naval Academy alumnus, did a brilliant impromptu interpretation of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Charlie understood Haidt's work far better than I, and I've known and taught Haidt for years.
Charlie lands pretty well to the right of me and Greg falls pretty well to the left of me, but no matter. These are serious public servants, the sort we need more of. Indeed, their ideals help define them. In sharp contrast to certain national political figures, Charlie and Greg are secure in and open about their own principles. That gives each the strength and temperament to respect and compromise with opponents. They do public service to make policy, not settle scores or collect honors.
But in one way Charlie Collins and Greg Leding could not be more different.
As a Republican, Charlie could run for U.S. Congress or Arkansas governor. (He would excel at either.) Greg is landlocked in Fayetteville. Our college town is safe Democratic territory, but were Greg to venture out to contest any post more prominent than Fayetteville mayor, he'd likely lose. Arkansans don't elect Democrats anymore, no matter how good they are--not to statewide office anyway.
In less than the eight years since I moved here, Arkansas has gone from essentially one-party Democratic with two Democratic U.S. senators, a Democratic governor and other state-level elected officials and Democrats solidly in command of the state Legislature, to GOP domination of all of the above and more.
The Democrats ran Arkansas not well, but for well over a century. Yet it appears the 21st century will be all Republican. I lean Republican, for serious foreign policy abroad and limited government at home. So why do I find this troubling?
Because like the Democratic Party of my spouse, my Republican Party is full of humans, and humans invariably abuse power if they have it for very long.
I'm from Baltimore, so I saw this firsthand. Baltimore is as one-party as anyplace north of Havana. I cannot recall a single Republican Baltimore city council member in my lifetime. Baltimore had a grand total of one Republican mayor since William Broening left office in 1931. Broening vanquished the Mafia--which is far more than any of his successors accomplished. (That list of mediocre mayors includes Nancy Pelosi's father and brother.) The past 85 years of one-party Baltimore history featured corruption, bad cops, bad schools, racism, crime--about anything negative you can name. Those dysfunctions came from unaccountable one-party politics based on personalities, not performance.
That sounds a lot like the old one-party Democratic South where the Clintons learned politics. Yet we have little reason to think Republicans act any better when they have a monopoly on power.
In 2010, the GOP took over Alabama state government, promising to clean up 136 years of corrupt Democratic rule. In just six years the GOP behaved just as badly. As historian Wayne Flynt told the New York Times, "Alabama has had a seamless transition from Democratic one-party rule and synonymous corruption to Republican one-party rule and synonymous corruption." (Funny how the Times investigated conservative Alabama, but missed how one-party rule wrecked liberal cities like Baltimore.)
So I urge my fellow Arkansans to elect enough Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, or something to make ours a two-party state, enough to keep Republican politicians accountable.
Don't let Arkansas become a one-party system like Cuba, Alabama, or Baltimore.
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Robert Maranto is the 21st Century Chair in Leadership in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, and has served as an elected official in Maryland and Arkansas. The views expressed here may not reflect those of his employer.
Editorial on 10/20/2016