In Defense of Partisanship

Somewhere along the line, "partisanship" has gotten a bad rap.  I think this is wrong-headed and perverts the notion of representative democracy.  So here's my defense of all the "partisan bickering" the talking media heads consistently malign.

Partisanship is generally referred to when Republican and Democrat elected officials are unable to reach compromise on legislative items (especially major items).  It is generally implied that adherence to party principles or ideas has interfered with creating public policy.  It is also assumed that the policy created through compromise will be better than no change in current policy.

However, what most pundits and academics fail to consider, is that elected officials are expected to represent the views of those who elected them.  Now this will strike some as an overly limited view of representation.  Elected officials, it is often argued, are supposed to represent all of their constituents, or "all of the people", or even, the national interests as a whole.  While these high sounding platitudes make us feel good about the role of an elected official, they fail to align with the reality or purpose of a representative system.

An elected official, first and foremost, is responsible for representing the interests of the people who actually

elected them.  This group of people, more often than not, come predominantly from one party or the other.  In fact, the official was in large measure elected because of his or her membership in that party, and their presumed fealty to that party's political principles.  Abandonment of those principles in the pursuit of compromise can be viewed as a betrayal of the very people the official is bound to represent.

In short, Republicans don't elect Republican officials who will begin voting with Democrats once in office.  And Democrats expect Democrat officials to vote in accordance with the party's principles, not to vote like Republican officials.  Quite frankly, neither Republicans or Democrats are elected to compromise.  This should be celebrated not denigrated.

To the extent that a Republican or Democrat holds true to their party's political principles, they increase the value of party labels and the meaningfulness of elections.  They make selecting officials an easier process by ensuring that voters genuinely understand how a particular official will likely vote on a variety of issues.  Partisanship ensures the integrity of the electoral process.

Partisanship is as old as representative government.  It is as central to our system as any element of the Constitution.  It is what breathes life into many of the issues elected officials must make decisions about.  Partisanship helps to create the conflict from which most real political achievements arise.  So here's three cheers for partisanship!  May it always rear its head when the specter of compromise approaches.