The Auron MacIntyre Show - December 30, 2022


Mitch McConnell and the Iron Law of Oligarchy ｜ 12⧸30⧸22


Episode Stats

Length

10 minutes

Words per Minute

157.55139

Word Count

1,594

Sentence Count

70

Misogynist Sentences

2


Summary

If popular sovereignty allows the people to hold leaders accountable, why is someone so reviled by his own base so confident in the safety of his power? In his book Political Parties, Robert McKells explores the behavior of representative governments and why their voters seem to have a difficult time holding them accountable.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
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00:00:22.240 On behalf of Air Canada, nice travels.
00:00:25.260 Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equipped Flight.
00:00:27.340 Sponsored by Bell. Conditions apply.
00:00:28.580 See AirCanada.com.
00:00:30.600 Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell proudly announced that sending billions of dollars to Ukraine was the number one priority for Republicans,
00:00:40.500 during a press conference in which he celebrated passing a massive $1.7 trillion spending package.
00:00:48.480 The longtime GOP figurehead was one of the central players responsible for engineering the disastrous 2022 midterms,
00:00:56.580 after redirecting crucial campaign funds away from promising candidates like Blake Masters in Arizona
00:01:02.960 because he was not content to parrot tired establishment talking points.
00:01:07.980 The Republican base has understood for a long time that McConnell is a disgrace,
00:01:12.720 but despite Mitch's betrayal of GOP voters at every opportunity, he sits comfortably ensconced in his position of power.
00:01:21.260 The Kentucky Senator acts against the wishes and interests of conservatives on a regular basis without any fear of losing his seat or his leadership position.
00:01:29.800 If popular sovereignty allows the people to hold leaders accountable,
00:01:33.840 why is someone so reviled by his own base so confident in the safety of his power?
00:01:40.180 In his book Political Parties, Robert McKells explored the behavior of representative governments
00:01:46.280 and why their voters seem to have a difficult time holding them accountable.
00:01:50.780 The political theorist begins by making some observations that might seem obvious,
00:01:55.780 but for some reason are quickly forgotten whenever the pundit class starts debating the motivations of political actors.
00:02:01.980 According to McKells, no organization is ever ruled by the entire body of that organization.
00:02:08.660 Be it a church, a bowling league, a business, or a political party,
00:02:13.340 an organized minority of members always takes control of the institution.
00:02:17.980 Even when the organizations are earnestly constructed on the principle of democratic input and accountability to the body of members,
00:02:25.680 a central group of leaders always emerges who actually guides the actions of the organization.
00:02:30.940 The natural fact of leadership is not itself an indictment of democracy.
00:02:36.420 The emergence of a leadership class is a universal feature of human endeavor,
00:02:40.720 and the Founding Fathers were not blind to this fact.
00:02:43.680 They organized the republic around representative and not direct democracy,
00:02:48.560 understanding that in a nation the size of the United States,
00:02:52.020 it was impossible to run the government without a set of leaders who, at least for a time,
00:02:56.800 dedicate their attention to operating the state in the interests of the people.
00:03:00.940 If over time, however, as the franchise expands and the democratic influence over the republic increases,
00:03:07.620 the interest of the leadership class becomes less and not more aligned with the interests of the average voter,
00:03:14.020 then the feasibility of popular sovereignty may be called into question.
00:03:17.960 If the democratic process inevitably leads to the installation of a leadership class
00:03:23.320 completely insulated from the consequences of that process,
00:03:26.740 is democracy even possible?
00:03:29.540 As McHales studied socialist worker parties in Europe,
00:03:33.420 the major democratic force of his time,
00:03:35.740 he noticed a consistent pattern emerging.
00:03:38.420 Average laborers with a gift for oration were consistently elevated by their fellow working-class party members
00:03:45.120 to speak and organize on behalf of the collective.
00:03:48.420 These trade union organizers often had humble backgrounds and genuine interests aligned with those who elevated them.
00:03:56.100 As the organization becomes more complex and its management more demanding,
00:04:01.440 these gifted individuals had to become specialists who devoted their time to the operation of the party
00:04:08.100 and leave their previous lives as daily laborers.
00:04:11.280 This change in vocation was their first break from the interests of the workers,
00:04:16.780 but would be far from the last.
00:04:18.980 These professional representatives quickly discovered that they could not achieve the ends their constituents demanded
00:04:25.420 with the meager power they had,
00:04:27.720 so the acquisition of additional power became the new goal.
00:04:31.560 The interest of gaining more power was often at odds with the immediate interest of their constituents,
00:04:37.840 but it could be justified because in the long term,
00:04:40.900 the purpose of acquiring power was ultimately to deliver on the promises leadership had made to party members.
00:04:47.040 The more expertise and power the representatives acquired,
00:04:51.880 the more indispensable they seemed to be to the ends of the party,
00:04:55.820 even as their own interests diverged more and more radically from those of the people they theoretically served.
00:05:02.320 According to McKells, quote,
00:05:04.320 So you've always been picky about your produce.
00:05:07.520 But now you find yourself checking every label to make sure it's Canadian.
00:05:11.400 So be it.
00:05:12.760 At Sobeys, we always pick guaranteed fresh Canadian produce first.
00:05:16.700 Restrictions apply.
00:05:17.700 See in store or online for details.
00:05:21.960 The democratic masses are thus compelled to submit to a restriction of their own wills
00:05:27.780 when they are forced to give their leaders an authority
00:05:30.780 which is in the long run destructive to the very principle of democracy.
00:05:35.180 The leader's principle source of power is found in their indispensability.
00:05:39.980 One who is indispensable has in his power all the lords and masters of the earth.
00:05:44.920 The history of the working class parties continually furnishes instances in which the leader has been in flagrant contradiction
00:05:53.600 with the fundamental principles of the movement,
00:05:56.500 but in which the rank and file have not been able to make up their minds to draw the logical consequences of this conflict,
00:06:04.000 because they feel that they cannot get along without the leader,
00:06:07.940 and cannot dispense with the qualities he has acquired in virtue of the very position to which they have themselves elevated him,
00:06:15.940 and because they do not see their way to find an adequate substitute.
00:06:19.940 Numerous are the parliamentary orators and trade union leaders who are in opposition to the rank and file at once theoretically and practically,
00:06:29.880 and who nonetheless continue to think and act tranquilly on behalf of the rank and file."
00:06:35.880 End quote.
00:06:36.880 While it may feel odd for conservatives to relate to a European Workers' Party in the early 1900s,
00:06:43.820 the description of how a leadership class separates from the interests of its voters should sound strikingly familiar.
00:06:50.820 The situation for the Republican base is even more dire, as most of the base would be willing to replace McConnell,
00:06:58.440 but the skill, power, and connections that he has acquired have made him all but invulnerable to the democratic process.
00:07:06.780 Instead of making himself indispensable to the GOP base, he's made himself indispensable to his fellow Republican politicians,
00:07:15.100 and more importantly, to the donor class that funds them.
00:07:18.800 Mitch McConnell has insulated himself by prioritizing the needs of the oligarchical class that actually drives the agenda of the GOP
00:07:27.600 over the needs of the voters that legitimate the Republicans through popular sovereignty.
00:07:32.840 This phenomenon is not unique to Mitch McConnell, the GOP, or American politics, but is rather an inescapable fact of the human condition.
00:07:42.600 That's why McHale sums up this natural tendency of social organization as the iron law of oligarchy.
00:07:50.840 Democratic systems, just like all human governments, will ultimately be led by an elite class
00:07:56.760 capable of more complex organization.
00:08:00.420 The superior organization of that elite class will always allow it to insulate itself from the popular will of the average citizen in some way.
00:08:11.760 Now, the social scientist did not see this as a reason to abandon the effort to reduce, as much as possible,
00:08:18.760 the autocratic tendencies of human organization.
00:08:22.420 But his observations instead stand as a warning about a critical aspect of all societies.
00:08:29.260 Every nation will be run by a set of elites, and forgetting this truth allows the ruling class members to hide the truth about their power and their motivations.
00:08:40.420 An elite will always emerge to lead in every civilization.
00:08:44.080 The important questions are, do their interests align with the good of those they watch over, and can they be held accountable if the answer is no?
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00:10:00.240 I hope everybody had a very Merry Christmas, and I hope you have a great New Year!
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