Democracy Died?

I watched the recent recall election in Wisconsin with interest, given that it was only the third recall election for a governor in this country’s history.  By all appearances, the governor was doing a great job - reducing unemployment, reducing the deficit and there are no allegations of misconduct - yet a recall election was invoked.  In this country’s two previous recall elections, both incumbent governors lost.  The last recall election, the 2003 California governor recall election, brought Arnold Schwarzenegger to office.

Scott Walker came to office in 2010 on a pledge to do something about the state’s $3.6 billion budget deficit.  After 16 months in office, the state has a $154 million surplus, property taxes have dropped for the first time in a decade, and unemployment dropped from 7.6% to 6.6%. According to CBS News, 52% of exit poll respondents approved of Walker’s job as governor.

What prompted the recall?  In order to reduce the deficit, he introduced the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, which among other things lowered the cost of state employees by limiting collective bargaining for wages, and increasing the amount state employees must contribute to their pension and health insurance premiums.  Incensed, the state unions and the state Democratic Party initiated the recall movement, collecting enough petition signatures - more than 900,000 - to justify a recall election. 

During a live CNN broadcast on election night, a man told the CNN reporter that “Democracy died tonight.”  That caught my attention! What prompted this man to say that? I wanted to find out, so I did some research.  If voter participation is a measure of an active democracy, how many voted?  Was this truly the death of democracy?

In the 2010 Wisconsin gubernatorial election, almost 2.2 million people voted.  Scott Walker won with 52.3% of the vote.  Tom Barrett received 46.5% of the vote. In the 2012 recall election, 2.5 million people voted.  Scott Walker received 53% of the vote and Tom Barrett received 46.3%. More people voted in the recall election than the original election.  That statistic would seem to indicate that the democratic process, or at least voter participation, is alive and well in Wisconsin. So, if it wasn’t voter participation that died, what was the death of democracy that the man cited?  Is it because vote of the majority didn’t go the way of this individual? It seems that the fact that this individual was free to vote and to express his opinion on the outcome demonstrates that democracy is alive and kicking.

Recall elections aren’t limited to governors.  In 2011, nine state senators faced a recall election. Seven of the nine were re-elected.  In addition to the Wisconsin governor’s race this year, the lieutenant governor and three state senators also faced recall elections.  All were re-elected save for one state senator.

Wisconsin held not one, but two recall elections.  The voter turnout in 2012 was greater than the 2010 gubernatorial election. The percentage of positive poll responses nearly equaled the percentage of the votes Walker received.  None of those facts support the claim that democracy died that night.

Was it political sour grapes? I don’t know.  However, I do believe that the inflammatory statement that democracy died is an indication that the rhetoric between now and November will become even uglier.  Regardless of one man’s opinion, facts show that democracy isn’t dead and buried.  I hope you dig past the political rhetoric and find truth supported by facts.  Before heading to the polls in November, educate yourself on the candidates and the issues, not just the hot-button issues such as same-sex marriage or abortion, but all the issues.  As Thomas Jefferson said,” The cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate.”