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March 03, 2022

(Washington, DC) U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Chair and Ranking Member led a bipartisan group, including Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) on a resolution recognizing Bosnia and Herzegovinas 30th anniversary of independence, addressing the political situation and reaffirming U.S. support for the nations pro-democratic aspirations.

I appreciate the bipartisan support for this resolution, which not only celebrates Bosnia and Herzegovinas 30 years of independence, but reaffirms U.S. support for their pro-democratic aspirations. Bolstering democracy around the world has never been as critical as it is today as we watch the Ukrainian people in the fight of their lives for freedom and democracy, said Shaheen. This resolution sends a powerful message to our partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina that the U.S. is behind them as they work to uphold unity in their nation for the sake of a brighter and more prosperous future for their citizens.

I am happy to cosponsor this bipartisan resolution reaffirming U.S. support for Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 30th anniversary of its declaration of independence, said Johnson.

Im glad to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in recognizing thirty years of Bosnia and Herzegovinas independence. While Putin simultaneously wages war on Ukraine and cheers on separatists in Bosnia and Herzegovina threatening 26 years of fragile peace in the Balkans the United States is committed to supporting the countrys pro-democratic and anti-corruption reforms, said Murphy.

The Bosnian people paid a terrible price in the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, said Durbin. After so much bloodshed and suffering, we must not let spoilers undermine the hard fought peace the U.S. and others helped broker. I join my colleagues in introducing a bipartisan resolution to celebrate 30 years of independence and reiterate U.S support for their democracy.

I congratulate the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 30th anniversary of their independence, said Wicker. As we have all been reminded recently, freedom and democracy are blessings that must continually be protected. The United States stands by the security, stability, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we hope their leaders will continue to work for unity and to end corruption.

Im proud to stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to recognize this significant milestone in Bosnia and Herzegovinas history, said Peters. For thirty years now, Bosnians have pursued a path of freedom and democracy and its essential we remain steadfast in our support of their efforts particularly given Russian aggression in Europe. In this moment, we must reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the Dayton Accords and to working alongside pro-democracy nations that seek peace and prosperity including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and other Balkan nations.

In January, Shaheen and Johnson sent a letter to the State Department urging the Department to use all available measures to resolve the political crisis in Bosnia.

Text of the resolution is available here.

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Shaheen-Johnson Lead Bipartisan Resolution Recognizing Bosnia and Herzegovina's 30 Years of Independence & Support for Pro-Democratic Aspirations...

Nye is the president and CEO of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and a former member of Congress from Virginia.

The American democracy is an incredible tradition that has been the envy of the world and remained resilient through two centuries. Though it has had to adapt to constantly reach for our ideals of equality and effectiveness, it has endured.

Yet the project is straining under the stresses of destructive factionalism our Founders warned us about at the outset of the republic, and it appears near the breaking point. The Economist Intelligence Units new Democracy Index 2021 has ranked the United States as 26th in the world and rated our country as a flawed democracy for the sixth year running. It is time for a serious reflection on the flaws plaguing our democracy and what we can do to fix them.

The EIU report cites extremely high levels of political polarization as a key problem. Our country is largely divided into political camps that define the other camp as an existential threat. Extreme competition for congressional majority compels politicians to ramp up practices like gerrymandering electoral districts for partisan advantage, which serves to destroy faith in politics and to further polarize the behavior of officials whose elections depend primarily on the sentiments of the most extreme party faithful. Closed primaries concentrate power on the fringes, as the primary is the only competitive election in most congressional districts.

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Lack of cooperation and resulting gridlock has rendered Congress largely dysfunctional, racked by increasingly common government shutdowns and an inability to complete sensible budgets on time or at all, while sectarianism prevents the basic cooperation our democracy requires to function. Political opponents are framed as such evil destructive forces that keeping them from power becomes more important than having a democracy at all. Discordant politicians have failed to come together even in the face of a concerted effort by a president to overturn a presidential election, an act which still defies a common assessment or response despite its attendant political violence. The cycle only seems to be spiraling further downward.

America is facing twin crises of dysfunctional politics and a lack of faith in our democracy. The bottom line is that our political system no longer provides incentive for elected officials to cooperate. Our electoral system is stacked in the favor of the most extreme voters, rewarding sectarian battling over cooperation, while our media is inclined to promote dramatic narratives and bombastic attention-grabbing personalities, further rewarding extremism.

If we fail to solve our fundamental incentive problem, we will remain unable to bridge the divides that tear at our country and leave us unable to rally to our greatest challenges at home and abroad.

In order to break this cycle, we must accomplish two things:

Partisan gerrymandering, closed primaries and winner-take-all systems are products of political party invention and not protected by the Constitution. They can be changed. Various states have already implemented fixes such as independent commissions or criteria for districting, open primaries, and ranked-choice selection methods, all of which incentivize candidates to appeal to a broader group of voters, thereby promoting greater cooperation. We should promote these in all states.

Federal legislation would also be ideal for systemic reforms that are most party-agnostic when implemented across all states simultaneously, such as gerrymandering reform, and for reforms that prevent racial discrimination, such as preclearance rules. But a federal legislative strategy that combines a large comprehensive set of reforms is difficult to explain to voters plainly, and unlikely to be successful.

A better strategy would entail a piecemeal approach, starting with reforms that enjoy broad support among voters of all stripes or that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan backing, including preclearance rules and gerrymandering reforms, and devoting more debate time to these issues. Even though progress in Congress is difficult, a more robust public debate would serve to educate voters and move sentiment in favor of reasonable reforms.

American partisans, engaged in scorched earth warfare over voting methodology across numerous states, are poisoning the well for rational compromise on standards that could provide for easy, efficient, and secure voting.

The same malincentives that prevent cooperation over fundamental responsibilities like budgeting cause officials to pursue voting rules satisfying to the knee-jerk sentiments of partisan base voters but often connected to outdated or outright false perceptions or at worst specifically designed to discourage voting among groups that might be more likely to vote for the other team. A constant swing in rules defining absentee ballot usage, early voting opportunities or acceptable voter IDs all dependent on which party holds the majority in a state legislature is a sure-fire way to destroy faith in the process and intensify the heated partisan mistrust that derails opportunities to find common ground.

Fixing this would require the participation of trusted nonpartisan actors, such as respected private sector CEOs, who could broker a tension-reducing set of negotiations over voting rules using a data-driven process that eschews simplistic partisan talking points. A reduction in tensions across this front might blunt the destructive power of dramatic political personalities to constantly stoke sectarian tendencies.

It is also dangerous to allow partisan competitors to police the rules of electoral competition. This is akin to having the referees in a football game also be members of the opposing teams. The elimination of partisan secretaries of state would be a good start in returning the referees to neutral status and restoring faith that elections can be conducted without partisan leaning or undue influence.

The resolution of our dire polarization will take a concerted effort to change incentives and break the cycle of partisan warfare. Fortunately the solutions, however difficult, are known and proven at smaller scales. Though focusing on systemic reform and reducing tensions is not as sexy as the next campaign or charismatic personality, our country deserves our dedication to make this effort a national priority.

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Here's how we restore American democracy - The Fulcrum

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

While law enforcement agencies and a Congressional committee work to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitolpolitical violence aimed at blocking or overturning the results of the 2020 presidential electiona wave of subsequent efforts seek to undermine the norms and structures that have given Americans basic confidence in elections and in the peaceful transfer of power.

Meanwhile, from statehouses to the Supreme Court, bitter debates rage over voting rights, access and security.

The University of Michigan will host four award-winning journalists who will share their insights into the forces threatening and protecting democratic structures and systems. The series is a partnership between the Ford School of Public Policy, Wallace House, and U-M Democracy & Debate 2021-22, co-hosted by the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

The Democracy in Crisis series will also explore the current state of journalism and the role of the press in upholding democratic institutionsat a time of demagogic attacks on the media and dramatic shifts in media ownership and independence.

Here in the United States, and in many countries around the globe, democracy is being threatened, and journalists are standing up to raise the alarm. This series will help our community and the broader public understand whats at stake, and what they can do about it, said Ford School Dean Michael Barr.

Anne Curzan, dean of U-Ms College of Literature, Arts, and Sciences, says strong, free and open, ethical journalism is essential to a well-functioning democracy. The series, she adds, offers an opportunity to learn about the state of U.S. democracy as well as the state of political journalism from an insiders perspective.

Diminishing the role and work of journalists is a key tactic in undermining democracies, she said. Bringing visibility to the work of journalists is a necessary antidote to those efforts. We look forward to giving our community a chance to engage with these experienced reporters in a way that cuts through the noise to prompt thoughtful civic engagement.

The series begins with three events:

The Ford Schools events page has details of the talks, all of which will be streamed and some of which will also include in-person attendance.

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Journalists to share insights as part of U-M's Democracy in Crisis series - University of Michigan News

John Michalski| The Gaston Gazette

While men and women of the Ukraine are fighting and dying trying to preserve democracy, they require countries who proclaim to be supporters of democracy to support them. It is ridiculous beyond belief that radicals in both the Republican and Democratic parties are using this event to try to score political points instead of standing up to Tsar wanna-be Vladimir Putin.

Both major American parties have had inconsistent histories by treating Eastern Europeans as lesser-thans and their respective national struggles as not as worthy as those in Latin America, Asia, Western Europe, and the Middle East.

Both major parties have also had episodes of being true to the democratic self-deterministic aspirations of Eastern Europeans. A few examples of the former include the platform of the Klan so influential in party politics for almost a century, the hyphenated American beliefs and speeches of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the immigration quota acts of 1921 and 1924, the SS St. Louis voyage, Yalta, Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968, and Helsinki Accords just to name a few.

A few examples of the latter include opening immigration to this great country during some of the darkest days in European and human history, providing humanitarian support, pressuring the Soviet Union to lift its iron curtain of oppression, supporting religious freedom, which often led to desires of freedom in other realms, using military means to halt a Balkan genocide, and expanding military and economic alliances that linked the future of portions of Eastern Europe to that of the democratic West just to name a few.

In both the former and latter, the intelligent American will quickly see that bothmajor parties are represented. No current American political party can claim historical purity in all-out supporting democracy in Eastern Europe. The current invasion and willful targeting of civilians by Putins autocratic Russia is another litmus test for American political parties. What side are their radicals really on? Actions speak louder than words.

The American media is beset with radical blowhards from both sides whose knowledge of Eastern European history and culture can fit on one side of a post it note. They are sadly attempting to use this event to score domestic points instead of unifying across the aisle to stand up to Putin. They portray themselves as experts but cannot even pronounce the names of people and places correctly.

Heck, these ignorant radical blowhards cannot even pronounce a simple Eastern European surname like mine correctly. As one whose family stood up to both Hitler and Stalin as well as other demagogues to the current day Tsar in Training, I am saddened by the negative influence that these American political radicals have upon a large faction of the American public.

Americas strength is its universal belief in freedom and democracy regardless of political affiliation. Americas great strength lies in its beliefs that every human being should have the opportunity to achieve their God-given potential regardless of political affiliation.

Historically many from Eastern Europe have admired the fundamental beliefs of the American republic since its inception. Examples include American Revolutionary figures such as Casimir Pulaski and Thaddeus Kosciuszko. Unfortunately, their names have been removed from too many U.S. history books.

I ardently hope that the vast majority of Americans will unify in their support of Ukrainians in defending their embattled democracy and not fall for the divisive dangerous drivel of radical political hacks from both parties who wish to do nothing but divide this country into paralysis.

Their promoted paralysis not only harms the United States but also freedom loving people everywhere who, as I write, are standing up to one the most powerful military forces in the world.

Their goal to have the freedom and opportunity that we have here but that too many in this country take for granted.

John Michalski is a resident of Gastonia.

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Stop the political grandstanding on Ukraine and support democracy - Gaston Gazette

Sometimes it is obvious when an attempt is being made to destroy a democracy. Tanks rolling across a border and missiles striking cities dont leave much room for doubt. But threats can be both more subtle and a slower burn.

Last week, the elections bill cleared its first hurdle in the House of Lords (UK elections watchdog warns bill threatens its independence, 21 February). During the debate, peers queued up to set out their concerns about the impact on the independence of the Electoral Commission the elections watchdog once Michael Gove is setting its strategy and policy. It is a dangerous power to put into political hands.

Lord Grocott deployed a footballing analogy to make his point and hit the spot: To allow the winning party to give instructions to the Electoral Commission is comparable to a game between Arsenal and Manchester United in which, prior to kick-off, the Arsenal manager gives instructions to the referee.

This move goes expressly against the recommendations of the committee on standards in public life. It was also criticised by the Conservative-led public administration and constitutional affairs committee, which concluded that it risks undermining public confidence in the effective and independent regulation of the electoral system, and by the chair of the Electoral Commission, John Pullinger, and the majority of electoral commissioners in an open letter to ministers.

Peers are the last line of defence against plans to take control of the body that manages elections and fines political parties for rule breaches. We urge them to be as forceful in defending democracy now as they were during discussions about the police bill, which saw the government defeated 14 times. Otherwise our democracy is on a slippery slope.Tom Brake Director, Unlock Democracy; Kyle Taylor Director, Fair Vote UK; Mark Kieran CEO, Open Britain; Jess Garland Director of research, Electoral Reform Society

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The subtle but deadly threat to UK democracy - The Guardian