The Character of American Democracy

Preserving Our Past, Protecting Our Future

Jill Long Thompson

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9780253050427
  9780253050427
• eBook ISBN:
  9780253052704
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This illuminating examination of democratic ethics is "a resource for Americans who are seeking ways to secure our democracy and our future as a nation" (Congressman John Lewis).

Ethical leadership, steeped in integrity and fairness, matters. The future of our nation and our world depends upon the quality of America's character. In this absorbing look at our contemporary society and government, former Indiana congresswoman Jill Long Thompson persuasively argues that we all have a meaningful role to play in shaping America's character and future.

The citizenry, as well as their elected officials, are responsible for protecting fairness of participation and integrity in elections, as well as in the adoption and execution of laws. In this troubling time when the public is losing trust and confidence in our government, Jill Long Thompson shows us a bipartisan way forward.

ONE

AMERICAN CHARACTER

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

PRESIDENT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER¹

LIKE MANY CHILDREN ACROSS THE United States growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I was privileged to be part of a neighborhood filled with military veterans. These men and women were the foundation of our community. They and their families believed in and were committed to the greater good of society. Everywhere I went in those days—to our church, to the 4-H fair, to the feed mill, to the grocery store—there were always veterans of World War II or the Korean War present. Many of our neighbors, as well as my own dad and uncles, had been deployed to foreign countries during their military service, and they would often talk about their experiences and travels. My late mother-in-law, who grew up on a family farm in rural northern Indiana, volunteered to serve in the US Army Air Forces and was deployed to serve in England. As a young woman in civilian life, she was known for her strength and resolve. But as with her fellow soldiers, her interminable mettle and allegiance were fully revealed during her military service.

As a child, I gave little thought to how much had been asked of those veterans and their families. I also gave little thought to their bravery. Most of the veterans I knew lived on grain and livestock farms, and they were very tied to their land and their communities. They worked seven days a week, and they rarely traveled outside our home state of Indiana. As children, many of them had barely journeyed to a neighboring county, and most of them rarely, if ever, traveled to large cities. One could imagine they all would have found it at least a little daunting to travel across country. And yet, as young men and women, some of them just teenagers, they answered the call to travel anywhere in the world and risk their lives in defense of our country and our democratic values. They lived and breathed patriotism and courage.

In his book The Greatest Generation, Tom Brokaw wrote the following about the men and women who served during World War II, “At a time in their lives when their days and nights should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workaday world, they were fighting, often hand to hand, in the most primitive conditions possible, across the bloodied landscape of France, Belgium, Italy, Austria. They fought their way up a necklace of South Pacific islands few had ever heard of before and made them a fixed part of American history—islands with names like Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Okinawa.… They stayed true to their values of personal responsibility, duty, honor, and faith.”²

More than sixteen million men and women from farms, towns, and cities across the country served in our US military during World War II.³ In the last two and a half centuries since the American Revolution, tens of millions of service members have protected and continue to protect our democratic principles and our people. The embodiment of selfless courage and patriotism, they are men and women of American character.

At its very core, democracy demands courage and strength, and service members and veterans are the incarnation of great courage and strength. They reflect the character imagined by our nation’s founding fathers and are the embodiment of selfless courage and patriotism. They are men and women of American character.

THE MEANING OF CHARACTER

Before we can understand how to incorporate character into our decision-making or our leadership, we must first recognize what it is. The term is derived from the Greek word charaktêr and was originally used to denote a marking or an imprint on a coin.⁴ Coins, of course, are a form of currency, and different markings reflect different monetary values. Just as a coin’s imprint reflects its value in the marketplace, a person’s imprint on society determines the value he or she adds to or subtracts from our world.

Character can be positive, negative, or even neutral. Aristotle held a belief in excellences of character, meaning the “combination of qualities that make an individual ethically admirable.” His phrase for excellences of character—êthikai aretai—is usually translated as moral virtues or moral excellence(s). The Greek êthikos is the adjective cognate with êthos, or character. In other words, according to Aristotle, a person of character is one who demonstrates moral virtue in his or her actions.

Although one’s character could be either honorable, corrupt, or somewhere in between, the term is often used to mean something positive, as reflected in the statement “She is a woman of character.” Unless otherwise indicated, that is how the word is used throughout this book.

What is American character? I believe the answer to this question lies in the values set forth in our nation’s founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In officially declaring our independence from England, the forefathers established the fundamentals of our nation’s character when they wrote,

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

As a living document, the Constitution is both aspirational and inspirational, but it also provides very constructive and pragmatic parameters for fair and equitable self-governance. The Constitution of the United States of America reflects the principles of strong character. The fifty-two words of its preamble may be the greatest mission statement ever written: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

These historic documents created the foundation for a fair and open democratic government that values individuals and individual rights. They established the principles that are integral to our nation’s character. They are great and illustrious documents. But as inspiring and impressive as these documents are, they are not perfectly written. The Declaration of Independence would have more character if it stated that “all people” rather than merely “all men” are created equal. The US Constitution has been amended numerous times. It took until 1870 for the nation to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment prohibiting denial of voting rights based on race, and the Nineteenth Amendment prohibiting the denial of voting rights to women was not ratified until 1920.

Democracy places great value on individual rights, freedoms, and justice. And at its very core, democracy is an ethical concept and an ethical way to govern because it is “a system of government in which effective political power is vested in the people.”⁶ As we know, the first democratic government was created in Athens, and the word democracy comes from the terms demos, meaning the people, and kratos, meaning power. In other words, democracy means “capacity to do things” or “power of the people.”⁷ Not only is democracy a fair way to govern; it also provides the potential for the building of a stronger society. British philosopher John Stuart Mill argued that giving political power to the masses requires those in decision-making or leadership positions to consider the varied interests of all, which leads to more balanced policy-making. He argued further that broadening sources of information improves the quality of decision-making.⁸ I believe the broad-based discussions integral to the democratic process improve critical assessment and moral awareness. While democracy itself is an ethical concept, its very design can enhance the character of a people.

Other forms of government do not place the same value on equity or on a person’s rights and liberties. For example, in a totalitarian government, a small group of elites controls the political, economic, and even social and cultural activities of a society. With no respect for the citizenry, the leadership uses various means to control their behavior. In a dictatorship, a single person controls virtually everything and has no accountability to the general population. There is also singular control in an absolute monarchy, where bloodlines determine who will be king or queen. Socialism appears to be well-intentioned, with its commitment to sharing of assets, but it ignores the rights of the individual to make personal economic decisions. And communism, which Karl Marx argued would cure the ills of inequality in a society, is also a form of government that disregards the rights of individuals to have and follow their own will.⁹

Merging democracy and capitalism, as we have done in the United States, has created what is widely recognized as a uniquely powerful force. Not as widely recognized, however, are the strong ethical principles embodied in this combination. While democracy is lauded by many, capitalism is regularly maligned as favoring the rich and mighty. Capitalist economies have been more successful at growing markets and wealth than other economic structures, and it has long been my belief that a market-based economy provides the greatest potential for economic opportunity.¹⁰

I also believe that the key to a market economy that best serves society in the long run is well-thought-out public policies that include effective regulation. No economic system works perfectly, and in every type of structure, there are ebbs and flows in opportunity and growth. But in a capitalist structure, the cause of economic disadvantage lies not as much with the type of economy as with the people who take advantage of, or even abuse, their position within it. A smartly designed regulatory system provides needed balance.

Capitalism “is a system where the means of production are owned privately and operated for profit. It is a system opened to new ideas, new firms and new owners where decisions on investment, production, trade and pricing are largely determined by market forces. This does not mean that the state has no role in capitalism. On the contrary, the state needs to create the appropriate regulatory and legal framework without which markets will not function properly. Also, the state needs to provide public goods and ensure that there is adequate physical and human infrastructure.”¹¹ Opportunity creation through the private right to property and commerce is a virtuous concept that exemplifies respect for the individual and the right of personal ownership. The incentives for economic growth that this structure provides also offer potential for a better quality of life for individuals, families, and entire communities.

This is not to suggest that capitalism is perfect. Private ownership of property and freedom to choose what to buy or sell are not the only components of capitalism. Self-interest is also central to capitalism. As Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”¹² The business owner wants to make a profit from the sale of goods, but the customer also acts in his or her own rational self-interest, which means that both the buyer and seller must address each other’s wants. In a market economy, there is power on both sides of the transaction.

A major challenge facing market economies is ensuring balance and equity. Research has shown that income inequality negatively affects economic growth and sustainability. While there is not a one-size-fits-all formula, an International Monetary Fund working paper makes a strong case for public policy that mitigates the challenges of income inequality. Specifically, “when the rich get richer, benefits do not trickle down,” but policies that promote development of human capital and progressive tax systems are effective in advancing income equality.¹³

I believe that the combination of self-governance, personal ownership, and private business enterprise provides the best opportunity for individuals and societies to flourish and endure. The challenge in making this combination work is ensuring that the operationalization or implementation of the principles embraced by democracy and capitalism are protected by a government that is fairly and equitably run by the governed. Ethics and laws are essential. Upholding, protecting, and nurturing individual and societal interests require an informed, engaged, and ethical citizenry, as well as ethical leadership in government and business. Not only do we all have a role to play in this system, but we all have a responsibility to be honest, informed, and engaged.

As a democratic republic with a capitalist economy, the United States of America has always had a principled mission. We have not perfectly executed our mission, because as a nation of humans, we are imperfect. Humans tend to act in ways they believe will best serve their own self-interest, and doing so often conflicts with society’s interests. Additionally, rarely do we have perfect knowledge, so we often think we are acting in a way that will benefit us when, in fact, we are behaving in a way that is not in our best interest. We are imperfect decision-makers.

Our imperfections make ethics necessary for protecting the values that are integral to our democratic mission. Ethics and laws set parameters that establish a realm of actions we determine to be acceptable. In the government arena, codes of ethics that are enforced help protect our democratic principles, our form of government itself, and our individual rights as persons. They also remind our officials that we are watching them, provide standards by which levels of acceptable conduct may be measured, and offer bright lines of demarcation between what is legal and what is not. Enforcement is also necessary.

Professional ethics and laws do not tell us what our personal morality or religious beliefs should be. Rather, they set standards of behavior that help us protect the principles of democracy and the rights we are guaranteed under the Constitution.

History tells us that many of the original settlers who came here from Europe did not show great character in their treatment of others, and today the struggle to overcome selfishness, unconscious biases, and bigotry continues. But there is no question that the framers of our Constitution had an honorable and enlightened vision for our country. They combined the idealism of the time with the pragmatic mechanics of self-governing. We must never ignore or question the responsibility each of us holds to keep that vision alive—not just for today but also for those who follow behind us.

From our very beginning as a nation, we have not just placed high value on economic security and homeland security, but we have also believed in and aspired to something even greater. Equality and fairness, individual rights and liberties, and the greater good are all valued here. These values have been instrumental to our successes and have made us the world leader we are. Our mission is more than a mere endeavor to do things right; it is also an endeavor to do the right things. I believe that to be our best as a society, we must work hard do the right thing in our personal lives as well as in our government and corporate actions. We know that every individual has worth, and we believe that liberty and opportunity are basic human rights. Our deeds must reflect those ideals.

The founding fathers made these values a priority. When they wrote our Constitution, they placed a strong focus on the rights of the individual in the governing process. Their goal was to create a nation that values equality, transparency, and opportunity. Democracy is so much more than a form of government; it is an embodiment of virtuous principles and ethical ideology.

The way we and our leaders enact policy matters as much as the policy that is enacted. There are always consequences to what we do and how we do it. When elected officials “misbehave,” the public becomes frustrated and loses faith and trust in the democratic process. But we must always remember that...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction: Ethics Are Fundamental to Democracy
• 1 American Character
• 2 Decision-Making with Character
• 3 The Habit of Leading with Character
• 4 Ethics and Democracy
• 5 Democracy, Ethics, and Capitalism
• 6 The American’s Character
• Conclusion: Strength of Character, Strength of Union
• Notes
• Index