The Tragedy of Democracy

As my previous post attempted to demonstrate, the Republicans, as the minority party, have been wildly successful in blocking--or at least delaying and weakening--Democratic efforts for economic recovery. This is a tragedy in itself, since millions of Americans are suffering every day. But this is also a tragedy of democracy. Democratic theory will have you believe that political actors/parties are competing within a more or less even electoral marketplace. The actions of said political actors and parties are understood by voters and are judged accordingly, namely with electoral reward or punishment. Outcomes are judged by their perceived causal origins.

But in this situation, Republican actions are highly shielded from clear public view--similar to a market externality in the language of economics--while Democrats--as the party in power--are judged by the ultimate outcomes of their policies. Largely hidden from those outcomes are the tools, procedures, and methods used by the minority party to prevent the majority party's intended outcomes. Instead, there are undemocratic forces at play--particularly within the Senate--and imperfect information available to the voting public. The role played by the Republicans' strategy of obstruction barely enters the electoral equation. That is the tragedy.

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UPDATE: I missed this earlier, but Matt Yglesias makes some similar points in this piece describing how the routine use of the filibuster is undermining democratic accountability.