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Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe reminds us that we are approaching the 70th anniversary of a landmark event in American history: Hubert Humphrey's speech on civil rights at the National Democratic Convention of 1948 and the subsequent vote on a civil rights platform.
Humphrey's triumph in 1948 was not the first major step taken by the Democrats in the transition from their Jim Crow past to their civil rights future – this would probably be the end of the two-thirds rule in 1936 veto on the Democratic presidential nominations. And that was not enough: the Democratic presidential candidate in 1952 and 1956, Adlai Stevenson, was at best moderate on the issue. Still, it was certainly important. Some Dixiecrats who left the party in 1948 never returned, and as they and their successors moved to the Republican Party, the bigotry faction of the Democrats became smaller and smaller.
This is an important story in the history of civil rights. movement, but it's also a great example of how American democracy can work.
On the one hand, it shows that the internal decisions of the parties are of crucial importance. Not all decisions of this kind are passed in official party organizations, such as this one. Sometimes important decisions involve a consensus reached within the informal party network. Sometimes, instead of a platform battle, it turns out that crucial decisions are made between different candidates, backed by different coalitions, for a presidential nomination – such as Republicans' nomination of Barry Goldwater. in 1964, marking the initial triumph of the conservative coalition in this festival. Or it may involve putting pressure on candidates to agree to party priorities – think of how Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards all supported (with minor variations) the basic framework that is became the Affordable Care Act against the tax increase.
However, they are made, these decisions are the way in which the new policy options appear and become plausible governance options. And the ability of party actors to propose new directions and to have a significant chance of getting them adopted is absolutely essential to American democracy. This does not mean that intraparty democracy must follow a plebiscite model in which voters must decide on party leadership through primary elections or other such mechanisms. It does mean, however, that some form of intraparty democracy is needed for the nation as a whole to be democratic.
The march towards civil rights also demonstrates why voting is absolutely essential. The choice of Democrats to move toward civil rights was not just about the awareness of northern politicians who were watching white supremacy in the South. What was important in general was that black citizens moved north and began voting in their new cities.
This shows that voting is what really counts – more, in some respects, than if a particular vote is enough to trigger an election (although that certainly helped to make the black vote a pivotal vote). Politicians try to represent their districts. But without the vote, voters are largely invisible to their elected officials. Of course, it was also important for some of these voters to start electing black politicians, who then fought in the Democratic Party for what their constituents wanted – for themselves and for other black citizens.
Democratic processes do not always work in the United States. But without the vote – and without strong political parties – they have no chance.
1. Michele L. Swers at Cage Monkey on how Senators are likely to vote on the choice of Supreme Court President Donald Trump.
2. Robert Farley on U.S. military power.
3. Sean Trende examines what the main possibilities of the Supreme Court bring to the Conservatives.
4. David Leonhardt has strong advice for Democrats on confirmation of the Supreme Court.
5. Jesse Ferguson on 2018, 1994 and the Democrats on Firearms.
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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Brooke Sample [19659021] at [email protected] [19659025]
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