The Wonder of Political Pluralism

Well, the Iraqis have voted. The counting will probably be contentious, and the results more so, but at least they have voted. It looks like all three ethnic groups – Shiites, Kurds, and Sunnis – turned out in large numbers to make sure their sides were covered. I understand that there’s still a lot left to do in Iraq, but still I have to smile that votes have been cast and people are selecting their leaders.

Naysayers will pooh-pooh my optimism, saying that the diverse interests of the three groups will inevitably unravel the march toward democracy. I sure hope not. The wonder of political pluralism isn’t that nations assemble around like viewpoints but that they are able to hold divergent ones in tension. The great thing about our own formation as a country is that rather than settle once and for all whether we would protect states’ rights or a strong central government, we let the argument play out. And 200+ years later, it’s still playing out.

Some may argue that letting it play out is akin to not facing up to tough issues, and there is some truth to that. The Constitution does not mention slavery because of compromises and deals that were cut during its drafting. Of course, the issue of states’ rights came to head over slavery barely a couple generations after this, leading to a torn nation and thousands killed in war.

But I would argue that the ongoing argument is better than a final resolution. In our two-party system, we are best as a nation when the party out of office is a strong one, not a wounded or weak one. In fact, we are at our worst precisely when one side has too much power. And I can hardly think of a time I was proudest of our country than when Al Gore, having exhausted his options over the disputed votes in Florida, gave his concession speech and extolled the US for being a nation where the highest office can change hands peacefully.

I hope that in the mess of politics and violence and spin in Iraq, that the Shiites and Kurds and Sunnis will learn how to co-exist in tension. If so, we can look back to December 2005 as a time they cast their first vote in that direction.