*****As Edmund Burke, the founder of modern party government, explained, “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
[...]
Some commentators have hoped that the Harris candidacy is on the verge of becoming something more powerful than a campa…
*****As Edmund Burke, the founder of modern party government, explained, “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
[...]
Some commentators have hoped that the Harris candidacy is on the verge of becoming something more powerful than a campaign, a “movement.” I understand the wish, but I’m wary of an embrace of “movements.” Movements can be necessary and admirable—the civil rights movement for example. But good movements are hard to sustain, and bad ones can arise to bolster demagogues.
A sound political party is what we need. It’s more than an individual campaign. But it’s less than an all-encompassing movement. It’s consistent with the purposes and limits of political action in a free society.*****
.
I will stipulate (perhaps examination will show otherwise) that in stating "the good must associate," Edmund Burke had specifically in mind that they associate in a political party rather than in a movement. However, the lesson that we take away need not be limited in this way.
Yesterday Joe Perticone put up a piece (link below; see also NPR piece linked below) about Republicans who have come out for the Harris/Walz ticket. They are part of a movement, not a political party. The Bulwark community is part of this same movement.
Yes, we need an effective pro-democracy political party like the Democratic Party. Yes, we can fantasize about some future Republican Party that is also pro-democracy.
In the meantime, this apartisan pro-democracy, pro-decency, pro-sense movement is even more essential to the lasting vigor of our constitutional republic.
Bill wrote:
*****As Edmund Burke, the founder of modern party government, explained, “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
[...]
Some commentators have hoped that the Harris candidacy is on the verge of becoming something more powerful than a campaign, a “movement.” I understand the wish, but I’m wary of an embrace of “movements.” Movements can be necessary and admirable—the civil rights movement for example. But good movements are hard to sustain, and bad ones can arise to bolster demagogues.
A sound political party is what we need. It’s more than an individual campaign. But it’s less than an all-encompassing movement. It’s consistent with the purposes and limits of political action in a free society.*****
.
I will stipulate (perhaps examination will show otherwise) that in stating "the good must associate," Edmund Burke had specifically in mind that they associate in a political party rather than in a movement. However, the lesson that we take away need not be limited in this way.
Yesterday Joe Perticone put up a piece (link below; see also NPR piece linked below) about Republicans who have come out for the Harris/Walz ticket. They are part of a movement, not a political party. The Bulwark community is part of this same movement.
Yes, we need an effective pro-democracy political party like the Democratic Party. Yes, we can fantasize about some future Republican Party that is also pro-democracy.
In the meantime, this apartisan pro-democracy, pro-decency, pro-sense movement is even more essential to the lasting vigor of our constitutional republic.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-welcome-disaffected-republicans
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/20/nx-s1-5081167/republicans-for-harris-coalitions-have-launched-in-several-swing-states