Measuring Democracy

Jared Loughner’s attempted murder of a US Congresswoman two weeks ago is old news at this point (the front page of the New York Times this morning was something about Steve Jobs). But I feel like this tragic event points to some causes for alarm within American democracy.

The main argument submitted by the left is that the intense and bipolar political discourse caused the shooting. The Economist takes on the issue in their recent article, The Tucson shootings: The Blame Game. The author is quick to admit American politics is heated, perhaps more so than ever before, but then later dismisses it as just a part of American politics. To me, that is a cop out. There needs to be change in American democracy. There is no compromise, no willingness to find a middle ground to any particular debate. Congress is so bi-partisan right now that it is painful to look at the absurdity of the news everyday.

Loughner, as we now know, wasn’t driven purely out of political angst: he was insane and violent, the type of person to commit acts like this against anyone. But that should not lead us to deny the fact that the way in which American politicians interact right now is not working. Rather than the Democrats and Republicans fighting about who is to blame for the shooting, they should be talking about how they can change the political landscape so that this debate is not even necessary.