Russ Roberts: But, a lot of politics—I was going to say it in America today, but it’s true for a lot of history anywhere the majority. It is certainly true here in Israel. There is a fear that the political process is a zero-sum game. That, if the other side wins, we lose, and lose in a devastating way.
I will stick to the United States. I think there is a perception in the United States that if the Left wins, the United States will no longer be the United States; and if the Right wins, the Left’s view is that the United States will no longer be the United States. It will be a certain shame, a certain failure that should be its goal.
And, I often describe that as: no more shared narratives. I don’t know if that’s a useful way to think about it. But, when the country is divided and each side sees the other side as successful a traitor, it is very difficult, one, to do anything, which is part of what your book writes about; but it also means that there is a cultural failure, it seems to me, and a corresponding political failure as you write in the book. Do you think we’ve reached that point in the United States, and is your book in some sense a cure for that disease?
Yuval Levin: I think in a sense we have reached that point. I think getting to that point – I think it’s possible to recover from that kind of situation, because Our political culture gives us a lot to work with in this regard.
Therefore, I would say that the idea that people have that quotas are perfect is a function of a misunderstanding of how democracy works.
Again, it is a misunderstanding rooted in how other democracies fail. And, the strange thing about the American Constitution is how aware it is of that danger.
Therefore, democracy is based on the concept that majority rule is essential for political legitimacy. I think that is absolutely true. And, the Founders of the Constitution of the United States started from that foundation.
There is something democracy at the end of it all. Everyone is ultimately accountable to the voting public.
However, there is another truth about democracy: that majority rule can be very oppressive. And that it creates fear in the little ones. Because, if everything rests with the majority and if anything done by the majority is considered legitimate, then if you are not in the majority, you are in big trouble. Also, elections are a time when society decides who is in the majority and who is in the minority. And, that means that if everything is to be taken from every election, then the numbers are very high and therefore really is something fight to the death.
The American Constitution deliberately creates a set of restrictions on many people as it grants great powers.
Now, it must be said, this is actually what we find frustrating about the Constitution. Also, most of the critics of the Constitution are actually great people. And they said, ‘Look, the majority of the public voted for this party and yet they get nothing done because they have to negotiate with these other institutions and another group in the institution.’
And, it’s true. Everyone who wins an election for President or Congress sooner or later in the United States finds themselves saying, ‘Look, I didn’t win the election? Shut me up interaction and these people?’
The reason you are still dealing with these people is that the Constitution knows very well that the majority must be restrained before they can be empowered, or at least, to be truly legitimate, they must be numerous and strong. and not many that are small or fleeting or ephemeral.
Therefore, the system creates a bicameral legislature where the two houses are elected in two different ways. For a long time, these branches of government have always been weak. It creates an executive who is appointed in an unusual way and must always be accountable to Congress.
All these things are done to make sure that it is not just that if you are in the minority, you are disappointed. That’s not how American life is supposed to work.
And, in a way, the intense, interactive competition that the system creates is a way to ensure that everyone becomes a minority at times–or at least can imagine themselves to be a minority–so they have to worry about the minority being protected from the power of the majority.
Therefore, how to balance the power of the majority and the rights of the minority is a challenge that every democracy must face.
I think the American Constitution is actually different good in doing so, but that’s also why it’s so frustrating to reduce the population, the only kind we’ve had in America in the 21st century.
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