Saving Democracy From Ourselves. Steve Williamson and Karen McClelland welcome Michael Austin, Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Snow College in Utah and author of “We Must Not Be Enemies: Restoring America’s Civic Tradition.” The title of his latest book comes from a quote by Abraham Lincoln from a time when we were even more divided than now.
Austin says that what usually kills democracy is negative partisanship – voting against a candidate rather than for a candidate you like. He notes that a large percentage of Americans believe the other side has no right to exist.
Yet he believes there is a way across the divide, but politicians can’t do it because they are a reflection of the population. Austin says, “We have to stop looking for a structural fix to the problem. We have to stop looking for a huge, redefining election that’s going to make our side dominant. Constitutional fixes aren’t going to happen. We aren’t going to change our system. We have to change ourselves…to understand that disagreement is inherent in human nature and necessary to democracy. Right now, the path we’re headed down leads to the end of democracy.”