GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE

 

[U.S. House Chamber 1820]

[Published as part of Constituting America's Ninety Day Study on America's Founding Principles: Principle of a Legislative Branch Within a System of Government Closest to the People – Constituting America]

In advocating for establishing the Legislative Branch in the U.S. Constitution, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, writing under “PUBLIUS”, stated in Federalist No. 52:

“First. As it is essential to liberty that the government in general should have a common interest with the people, so it is particularly essential that the branch of it under consideration should have an immediate dependence on, and an intimate sympathy with, the people. Frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured…. It is a received and well-founded maxim, that where no other circumstances affect the case, the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration.”

Madison and Hamilton explained how the Legislative Branch was fundamental to Americans remaining in control of their own government in FEDERALIST No. 57:

“The House of Representatives is so constituted as to support in the members an habitual recollection of their dependence on the people. Before the sentiments impressed on their minds by the mode of their elevation can be effaced by the exercise of power, they will be compelled to anticipate the moment when their power is to cease, when their exercise of it is to be reviewed, and when they must descend to the level from which they were raised; there forever to remain unless a faithful discharge of their trust shall have established their title to a renewal of it.”

Binding the Legislative Branch to the people built upon the precedents from America’s colonial period.

The Royal Charter that established Jamestown in Virginia evolved from governance by the Charter holders into governance by the King’s Representative (Royal Governor) and his Advisory Council. When the settlers demanded their own voice, the Virginia House of Burgesses, in 1619, became the first democratically elected legislative body in America. 

The House of Burgesses became a proving ground for what would become the U.S. House of Representatives. Drawing upon British tradition, revenue and spending bills originated in the House instead of the “upper chamber”. Drawing from British tradition, the members of the House held their positions for short periods of time, the better to be held closely accountable by those they represented.

Tying government closely to the people is foundational to America.  The reason America is a “federal” system, and not a “national system”, is to preserve state and local government.  This assures most public policy and public activity is closest to the people it serves and reflects their diversity.  Serving an urban New York City neighborhood is very different from serving a rural community in Montana.

America’s diversity is embodied in our nation’s motto: “E Pluribus Unum” – out of many, one.

Governing a diverse America is institutionalized in the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Today, America is governed by 87,576 local units.  This includes 3,034 counties, 19,429 municipalities (cities, towns, villages), 16,504 townships, 13,506 school districts, and 35,052 special districts (such as water & sewer, fire, and conservation).

Except for Switzerland and Germany, European governments are national. Their policy and programs are based on “one size fits all”. National governments ultimately amplify regional and ethnic tensions.  England’s Acts of Union with Scotland (1707) and Ireland (1801) spawned countless conflicts.  Today, Scotland and Wales have separate Parliaments.  Ireland divided itself into a Free State and Northern Ireland in the wake of years of violence (1921).  England leaving the European Union in January 2020 reflected what happens when a weak parliament, which could have embraced diversity, was dominated by a powerful and unaccountable bureaucracy.

America’s federal structure, emphasizing government closest to the people, was chronicled by the Frenchman, Alexis Clerel, the Vicount de Tocqueville.

“Democracy in America” was published in two volumes (1835 and 1840).  It remains a foundational document describing how Americans benefit from local government.

“The village or township is the only association which is so perfectly natural that wherever a number of men are collected it seems to constitute itself. The town, or tithing, as the smallest division of a community, must necessarily exist in all nations….”

“….local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free nations. Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty. 

de Tocqueville recognized how Americans preserving local governance serves as a model for a better world:

"I believe that provincial [local] institutions are useful to all nations, but nowhere do they appear to me to be more indispensable than amongst a democratic people.

The only nations which deny the utility of provincial [local] liberties are those which have fewest of them; in other words, those who are unacquainted with the institution are the only persons who pass a censure upon it.”

Thanks to the strength of local government, America remains an inspiration for all those who seek free and open societies. 

 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM

“CONSTITUTING AMERICA” SERIES ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Every year elections are held in the United States.

Federal and state elections every other year (except a few states who are truly “off-year” outside of the two-year cycle).  Local elections, county and municipal, are held somewhere every year.

There are approximately 88,000 local governments, districts, and commissions containing over 500,000 elected officials.

Many local offices are nonpartisan, meaning not party affiliation.  School Boards and small cities and towns assume local functions are not truly partisan.  Is there a Republican or Democrat way of collecting trash or plowing snow?

Local government is designed to be more intimately related to the people it serves. Ironically, few Americans understand its functions, and fewer know their local officials. 

This is unfortunate, as local government is, in many ways, far more important than national and statewide offices.  Local laws and their enforcement can affect property values, quality of education, quality of water, and determine life or death when managing first responders.

This dichotomy of importance and ignorance creates numerous challenges and opportunities.

On the one hand there is less interest in running for these offices.  In smaller towns and cities, of importance and as many as 79 percent of local elections are uncontested.  There is also less interest in voting for these offices.  Stand alone local races, held in off-years, may experience voter turnouts of less than 20 percent.  Local elections held during regular cycles, usually county and school boards, may garner 30-40 percent less votes than for the high-profile state and federal offices.

On the other hand, smaller voter turnout means a dedicated group of activists can elect a candidate as change agent.  It also means a low thresh hold for a first-time candidate entering a local race.

21^st Century campaigns have become extremely expensive. 

In 2014, the average winning campaign for the U.S. Senate campaign spent $10.6 million.  In 2018, incumbent U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) spent $33.5 million in her losing re-election campaign.  In 2018, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) spent $25 million to lose his re-election, while Governor Rick Scott (R-FL) spent $68 million to defeat him.

Campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives can also be very expensive. Congressman Alex Mooney (R-WV) spent $1.8 million for winning his 2018 re-election.

These campaign finance numbers do not include the millions spent by “independent” organizations to promote or oppose candidates through direct mail and professionally produced radio and television advertisements.

Compare this with county-level campaigns where $5,000-$20,000 may be all that is required for victory.  Winning small town and School Board campaigns may only require a just few hundred dollars.

“Down Ballot” offices are ideal for average citizens to run for office for the most idealistic of reasons – to help their community.  Many who run for these positions do not desire political careers.  They are motivated by seeing something that needs to be done and answer the call to do it. 

Another aspect of local “down ballot” campaigns is that they usually transcend partisanship.  This is certainly the case for officially nonpartisan offices.  Even partisan local campaigns will see bipartisan cooperation when community values, honesty in government, and civic reform is at stake.  There are countless examples of activists who may be deeply divided on national issues joining forces to “drain the swamp” of county courthouse insiders.

Successful “Down Ballot” campaigns may include a few yard signs, but rarely include major advertising.  Social media, especially Facebook pages and groups, have been the winning edge for many of these first timers.  Some create their own Facebook and Youtube videos to introduce themselves or highlight issues.

The intimacy of local campaigns also allows for neighbors to help neighbors.  “Meet and Greets” in private homes and door-to-door face-to-face interactions are the purest form of grassroots campaigning.  Money is not as important.  One local candidate, who was revered for her charity work, won by a landslide despite being outspent 21-1.

This lack of interest in running and voting has, by design or chance, levelled the field for average citizens to make a difference.  Either as a candidate or as a supporter/voter of that candidate, “down ballot” offices provide a way for caring members of the local community to get involved and contribute to the greater good.

What could be more American than that?

SAVING FEDERALISM = SAVING AMERICA

“CONSTITUTING AMERICA” SERIES ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

America is built on local government.  The future of our nation depends on local communities remaining at the core of representative democracy.

In 1831, the Frenchman, Alexis Clerel, the Vicount de Tocqueville, along with his colleague Gustave de Beaumont, was sent by the French government to study America.  While their mission was officially to review prisons, their nine-month journey produced one of the great classics on America’s civic culture.

“Democracy in America” was published in two volumes (1835 and 1840).  It remains a foundational document describing American exceptionalism.

At its core is de Tocqueville’s description of local government:

The village or township is the only association which is so perfectly natural that wherever a number of men are collected it seems to constitute itself. The town, or tithing, as the smallest division of a community, must necessarily exist in all nations….

….local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free nations. Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty.

America has always been a nation of communities.  Its pattern of settlement, through Royal Charters, gave wide latitude for establishing local governance.  Being over 5,500 miles from London, made detailed oversight of colonies impossible.  By necessity, and by desire, colonists embraced local authority over distant rule from a capitol or nation.  When distant rulers attempted to increase their control, colonists ignited a Revolution.

As de Tocqueville explains:

The revolution of the United States was the result of a mature and dignified taste for freedom, and not of a vague or ill-defined craving for independence.

The first form of government was the Articles of Confederation, which created a very weak national government.  External threats and internal dysfunction led to the U.S. Constitution, with extensive safeguards for local sovereignty.

America established a federal government, which means power is shared between national and state government, and the majority of governmental actions take place at the local level.  This is institutionalized in the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Today, America is governed by 87,576 local units.  This includes 3,034 counties, 19,429 municipalities (cities, towns, villages), 16,504 townships, 13,506 school districts, and 35,052 special districts (such as water & sewer, fire, and conservation).

These independent, and interdependent, local governments reflect the diversity that is unique to America.  In America, the preferred government is one closest to those its serves.

de Tocqueville links local government to being fundamental to a free people:

In the township, as well as everywhere else, the people are the only source of power; but in no stage of government does the body of citizens exercise a more immediate influence. In America ‘the people’ is a master whose exigencies demand obedience to the utmost limits of possibility.

Municipal independence is therefore a natural consequence of the principle of the sovereignty of the people in the United States: all the American republics recognize it more or less;

de Tocqueville uses the townships of New England as his primary example of the effectiveness of local government and their role in establishing America’s unique democracy:

The native of New England is attached to his township because it is independent and free: his co-operation in its affairs ensures his attachment to its interest; the well-being it affords him secures his affection; and its welfare is the aim of his ambition and of his future exertions: he takes a part in every occurrence in the place; he practices the art of government in the small sphere within his reach; he accustoms himself to those forms which can alone ensure the steady progress of liberty; he imbibes their spirit; he acquires a taste for order, comprehends the union or the balance of powers, and collects clear practical notions on the nature of his duties and the extent of his rights.

While discourse over major national and global issues attract the most attention, it is local government that most directly affects our daily lives.  The quality of the school children attend, the condition of roads driven, the safety of neighborhoods, the taste and pressure of water coming from the tap, saving lives and property from fire or accident, are locally governed and provided.

de Tocqueville noted the benefits of locally focused government in America:

In no country in the world do the citizens make such exertions for the common weal; and I am acquainted with no people which has established schools as numerous and as efficacious, places of public worship better suited to the wants of the inhabitants, or roads kept in better repair.

He saw local government promoting individual initiative while restraining growth of a centralized state:

As the administrative authority is within the reach of the citizens, whom it in some degree represents, it excites neither their jealousy nor their hatred; as its resources are limited, everyone feels that he must not rely solely on its assistance…This action of individual exertions, joined to that of the public authorities, frequently performs what the most energetic central administration would be unable to execute.

Thanks to the strength of local government, America remains an inspiration for all those who seek free and open societies. 

While chronicling America in its early years, de Tocqueville recognized how the United States’ embrace of local governance already served as a model for a better world:

I believe that provincial [local] institutions are useful to all nations, but nowhere do they appear to me to be more indispensable than amongst a democratic people.

The only nations which deny the utility of provincial [local] liberties are those which have fewest of them; in other words, those who are unacquainted with the institution are the only persons who pass a censure upon it.

                     

PRESERVING REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

[Editors Note:  On June 21, 2016 a Republican Member of the Jefferson County Commission was arrested on a variety of sex charges.  He resigned the next day.  Under West Virginia Law, the remaining four members of the County Commission had thirty days to appoint a replacement.  WV Law was unclear as to whether a person had to reside in the Magisterial District or even had to be a Republican.  Eighteen people applied for the position.  Only three were Republicans from the District.

While the letter of the law was unclear, this column, published in local newspapers, called for embracing the spirit of the law and the fundamentals of Representative Government.

On July 21, 2016, the Jefferson County Commission voted 3-1 to appoint a Republican who resided in the Magisterial District.  This column, along with many citizen letters and emails to the Commissioners, made the case for doing the right thing.  A small, but significant, victory for Representative Government.]

There is much at stake in the Jefferson County Commission vacancy.  It is as much about how it is filled as who fills it.  Every Jefferson County citizen should hope the remaining Commissioners select the best possible individual for our community.

 

This vacancy provides an opportunity for the Jefferson County Commission earn public trust. This can only happen if the spirit, not just the letter, of West Virginia law is upheld.

 

This means that the County Commission should select a registered Republican who is a real Republican.  This means that the Commission should select a person who actually lives, and has been active, in the communities within the Harpers Ferry Magisterial District.

 

In 2014, the voters of Jefferson County clearly decided a Republican should represent them for six years on the County Commission.  Being a registered Republican should be the minimum criteria.  The person should be active in the Republican Party and support its candidates.  Selecting a person who was ineligible to run in the May 10, 2016 West Virginia Republican primary would make a travesty of the process.

 

Jefferson County is complex for its size and population. The issues of most concern to those in the Harpers Ferry Magisterial District are unique from those facing residents in the other four Districts.  This is why the West Virginia Code makes it very clear that only a person who actually lives in a Magisterial District can be elected to the County Commission from that District.  If the Commission selects anyone other than an actual resident of the Harpers Ferry District, that person will be disqualified from being re-elected for that Commission seat at a later date. This will deprive Harpers Ferry voters of an accountable Commissioner.

 

Residency should be the minimum criteria.  A person proposing to represent the interests of the Harpers Ferry District should have a record of being active in the community within the  District.  This displays not only knowledge of District issues, but a level of caring over and above political aspirations.

 

The Jefferson County Commission has a unique opportunity to select a person who will be a positive addition to governing. The Jefferson County Commission needs a person who will properly steward public funds and shape a positive future for all county citizens.  This can be done in a number of ways:

 

• Power of the purse – allocating resources determines which county activities grow and which ones whither.  This assures top priorities have adequate funds to achieve tangible outcomes on behalf of the county.  Just as important is making sure public funds are well spent for the purposes intended.  Waste is waste.  Good management is good management.  Accountability and effectiveness transcend ideology.
• Power to appoint – people equal policy.  Selecting the right people to address the specific details of governing is another way the Commission can implement their agenda.  Knowledge, the highest ethical standards, and a passion for bettering our county, not themselves, should always determine who serves.
• Power of vision – the County Commission is more than a ministerial body, it is a board of directors responsible for  the health and wellbeing of the community and its citizens.  Every decision, even the smallest, should foster the best of what Jefferson County can become in the decades ahead.
• Power of leadership – America has 3,144 counties and county equivalents.  The Jefferson County government can find proven best practices from similar counties addressing similar issues.  Our County is also part of the larger Baltimore-Washington Metroplex. The Commission needs to define Jefferson County’s role within this six million population multi-state region.
• Power of the people – citizen engagement is basic to legitimacy.  Every Jefferson County citizen should have the ability to easily know and understand what is going on in their government.  This means full transparency.  This means timely, complete, and clear public notices.  This means full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest, including family, friendship, and business connections. 
   

The County Commission will face voter outrage if they fail in their most basic responsibility - keeping representative government alive in Jefferson County.