Independence Diminished
The pillars of the Supreme Court (Photo by Jesse Collins on Unsplash)
The Fourth of July always makes me reflect on the state of America. Along with Thanksgiving, Independence Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. Partly because we, as Americans, uniquely get to celebrate, but it’s also a chance to appreciate what we have and identify ways we can improve as a nation. In past years, I’ve written about America’s regressive tax policy and what it really means to be patriotic.
This year I find myself considering another definition of “Independence.” Conventionally, that term applied to this holiday refers to independence from England—commemorating the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776. But there is another critically important definition of independence that was very much top of mind for the framers of our Constitution: Independence among our branches of government.
It’s easy not to fully appreciate what an atypical, controversial, and bold concept independent branches for Executive, Legislative, and Judicial government was at the time. But this structure is indisputably the most defining and foundational in America’s success as a nation. It is a structure that has fostered prosperity. It is a structure that has enabled us to become a more fair nation. It is a structure that has been emulated by democratic nations around the world. And it is a structure that is increasingly under attack.
Even in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, the participants in the Constitutional Convention in 1787 had the incredible foresight to recognize that the greatest threat to our republic was not England or other foreign powers, but ourselves. When asked if the new country would be a republic or a monarchy, Ben Franklin is famously quoted as responding, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Ever since, it has been up to us as citizens and the grantors of governmental power, to uphold the republic.
Although there are plenty of appropriate criticisms that can be made of the 55 white men at that convention, they held their nascent nation’s interests above their own. Many of them probably could have assumed monarch-like authority. Indeed, absolute power was the governmental norm of the time. But the so-called “Founding Fathers” wanted to limit presidential power. By separating the ability to create laws, enforce laws, and adjudicate laws, they invented a form of government that has been enduring thanks to its adaptability. They put America on a path to gradually become a more perfect union. Although progress has come at a painstakingly slow pace, it has come—and come in many areas that would have been unimaginable at the country’s outset.
Unfortunately, in our modern political climate, we seem to have lost sight of the crucial importance of independent branches of government. Over the last century in particular, power has become increasingly concentrated in the Office of the President. Governing through Executive orders has become common for Presidents of both parties. The Legislative branch has largely stopped legislating—no longer representing the majority interests of their constituencies, but instead deadlocked in dogmatic fealty to their Executive leadership. Legislators seem to have forgotten their purpose is as a check and balance to the President, not political pawns or sycophantic enablers.
But perhaps the most dismaying development is the politicization of the Judicial branch. The recent overturning of Roe v. Wade is a stark reminder of how compromised the Supreme Court has become. That ruling was regarded as the “crowning achievement” of a deliberate, insidious, decades-long effort to stack the Federal courts with partisan loyalists, compromising one of the foundational pillars of our entire government in the interest of one specific agenda. With its conservative majority solidified, the Supreme Court is now poised to implement the desires of their Executive branch overlords on a wide range of issues, including the environment, religion, gun rights, and other conservative priorities. This is far from the independence envisioned for our Judicial branch.
The shocking testimony in the January 6 Congressional hearings has underscored the importance of independent branches of government. In that case, the Legislative branch maintained its independence and prevented an unprecedented attempt to usurp power by an unelected, unlawful, and clearly unhinged President. Barely. Our government functioned exactly as it was designed to, preventing the unilateral consolidation of power by a despot. Next time, we may not be so lucky. In a similar future crisis, we will need both the Legislative and Judicial branches to be steadfast in exercising their independence.
For the last century, America has led the world toward a more open, impartial, and just form of government. But the ascendence of liberal democracies around the world has faltered. Many nations, notably China and Russia but several former democratic republics as well, have gone backward toward more repressive, dictatorial regimes. Now, more than ever, the U.S. must rise above our political agendas. We must be willing to put the interests of our country ahead of the interests of ourselves or our parties. We must demonstrate that representative democracy with separation of power is not only viable but the only equitable form of government for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Enjoy Independence Day.