Today is an historic turning point in the development of democracy. A wonderful turning point.
By my calculation, the first democracy was formed in Holland in the1590s. The second democracy was two centuries later in America. Democracy is only a few centuries young and we are just beginning to create democratic institutions that work. This is pure experimentation.
In yesterday's blog I explained how we are likely to get a return of Cross-Filing in California next year.
Cross-Filing turns out, after being gone for forty years, to have been the root cause of California's half century of good government. California had a government that gave it the best transportation and best education in America, right up to the end of Cross-Filing in 1960. Today California is a mess with a junk bond rating and a government run by stereotypes of the venal politico.
I simply wanted to mention here, the reason we lost Cross-Filing. I can now see the historic process at work that destroyed one great democratic improvement to allow another improvement to emerge.
What happened was that political party conventions, starting in 1952, were covered by the new technology of TV. TV coverage meant that the traditional convention process consisting of dozens of floor votes, each one followed by back room negotiation between candidates and big city bosses, was no longer feasible. The public couldn't stomach back room deal making.
The consequence of TV at the political conventions was the magnification of state primaries and the eclipse of big city bosses. This all happened in less that eight years.
The magnification of state primaries was significant and important by the time of the 1956 convention. Both political parties saw the necessity of winning the California primary with a national candidate, not a favorite son. Winning the California primary with a national candidate was only possible if Cross-Filing was eliminated. That would make the California primary a contest only among party faithful. No favorite son could be allowed to win. So Cross-Filing was defeated by statewide vote.
Sadly, we now know that Cross-Filing was a great step forward in democracy. When it returns next year, the new Cross-Filing it will be designed to not interfere in the National Party Convention primary process. That new design is the result of a California Supreme Court ruling in 1998. All California elected offices will be subject to Cross-Filing but not the specific vote for National Party Convention delegates.
The future of democracy is bright. Democracy needs a lot of improvement. Improvement comes at a snail's pace, relative to one person's lifetime. I am fortunate to have seen this part of this great democratic experiment. We are jointly (my blog readers) fortunate to understand what is happening today.