While I was reading the assigned chapter, my thoughts kept on connecting what I was reading to the situation in Madison. Would the protests agree with De Tocqueville's vision of democracy in the United States, or, instead, would he view Governor Scott Walker's budget bill as the antithesis to democracy?
Some call the actions of Walker tyrannical, dictatorial even. I seem them as misguided and arrogant. I do not see Walker as our Midwestern Mubarak, and nor do I see Madison as our Cairo. Such comparisons are hyperbole to the nth degree. Despite all this, that does not mean that what is going in my great home state isn't dead wrong.
In theory, Walker has done everything De Tocqueville has laid out in his rights as governor. One aspect does make me uneasy, however, and it is as follows "When the authority, due by general consent to the laws, is disregarded, the governor marches out at the head of the physical power of the state; he breaks down resistance and reestablishes accustomed order."
It's hard to say what De Tocqueville would think about this situation. We all have our opinions and interpretations of his work and we will apply it in our own way to the protests happening in Wisconsin.
Jake,
ReplyDeleteThanks for making these connections and for calm about the comparison with Egypt/Libya/etc.
That power of force is one we so seldom see used in the USA, but there have been instances including efforts to "break the unions" and to enforce school desegregation. Still I share your seeming uneasiness about it.
LDL