Politics

Why America has great science but terrible politics – Brookings Institution

Published

4 years ago

March 9, 2021

Why does America have such great science but terrible politics? Only a couple of weeks ago, a United States spacecraft flew 293 million miles to Mars and safely landed an SUV-sized rover, all without damaging any of its onboard equipment, operating with an 11-minute communications lag, and navigating an atmosphere much thinner than Earth’s.

Yet despite our nation’s scientific prowess, our politics are terrible. Right now, America is plagued by political extremism, polarization, and hyper-partisanship. There is massive public cynicism and a lack of confidence in leading institutions. We have difficulty addressing basic problems, especially those involving the nation’s long-term needs. It is not clear that a closely divided House and 50-50 Senate is going to alter that reality.

How can we explain this seeming disparity between our scientific successes and political failures, and can we continue to be successful in the scientific realm if we leave our political problems unaddressed? As I outline below, there are fundamental differences between the sectors in terms of capacity for change, national investment, respect for expertise, and organizational culture. Fixing our clear dysfunctions must be a national priority. Otherwise we will end up with bad politics and science.

The case for our scientific successes

Even with the regular successes of NASA over the past several decades, it boggles the mind that we can land on another planet and have high quality images of the landscape almost instantaneously. Although NASA and university scientists make this look easy, we know that is not the case. Several countries, such as India, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia, have failed in their efforts to land on Mars.

The current landing is the fifth rover America has placed on Mars, and Perseverence is poised to make major scientific breakthroughs. It has equipment onboard that can test for the remnants of microbial life in the ancient lake bed where it landed. It is equipped with a helicopter that can provide an overview of the area to be explored. It can scoop up and store rocks that eventually will be brought back to Earth for more intensive analysis.

Our nation is also a leader in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, neuroscience, genetics, semiconductor development, and many other areas. In the midst of the COVID pandemic, our scientists worked with those from other countries to design new vaccines that reduce the disease and its associated fatalities. Indeed, our institutions of higher learning attract talented students from around the globe and are considered among the best in the world.

The contrast with our politics

In contrast, our political operations are crumbling. Our government was organized 230 years ago in a highly agrarian society, and the founders required two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of state legislatures to approve any major institutional changes. Though there have been 27 successful amendments to the Constitution, it is very difficult to update our institutional arrangements for an economy and society that have been transformed since 1789.

The challenge of making structural improvements means that as our country has urbanized, become more diverse, seen much of its economic activity migrate to the coasts, and been globalized, it is hard to update our institutions to reflect those changing realities.

In the post-World War II era, Congress and the president have scaffolded our scientific endeavors for success. They fund scientists, support higher education, train the next generation of experts, and insulate scientific enterprises as much as possible from political maneuvering. The scientific enterprise also features highly trained individuals who operate based on facts, cooperate internationally, and work together in a collegial manner. None of that is true for our politics.

The high level of political misinformation would never be tolerated in science. If Mars scientists launched Perseverance based on false theories or fake information, it would not have landed safely on Mars. Scientific principles would have laid bare the falsehoods for all to see. Yet there is no parallel corrective mechanism for truth or facts in the political world as leaders can spout lies without being held accountable for their inaccuracies. What’s more, political scientists have shown that correcting misinformation often sparks a “backfire effect” in which misperceptions become even more tightly held.

Our scientific culture explicitly encourages new thinking and innovative practices, and rewards successful innovators. Experts who develop new approaches receive Nobel prizes that glorify their creativity. The opposite is true in public affairs. Innovation is not rewarded and efforts to improve political performance are derided as misguided leadership.

Reforming political governance

The central challenge facing the United States is the rise of anti-majoritarian elements within many of our leading political institutions. For example, the Electoral College violates “one person, one vote” principles by overrepresenting small and medium-sized states and underrepresenting large states. A person’s vote in Wyoming and Idaho counts for more than someone’s in California, New York, or Texas. If one looks at presidential elections starting in 1992, Republicans have won the popular vote only once (in 2004) in eight elections, yet held the presidency for 12 of the 28 years from 1992 to 2020.

The Senate contains a related kind of inequitable representation. Courtesy of the 60-vote requirement to end filibusters in order to vote on non-budgetary matters, that chamber allows 41 percent of its members to block policy actions often desired by large majorities. There is a related problem in the House, although through a different mechanism. In that body, gerrymandered districts overrepresent Republican-dominated rural areas and underrepresent Democratic voters in urban ones. That can lead to issues favored by large numbers of voters being blocked by representatives sitting in safe albeit unrepresentative seats.

If you throw in a Supreme Court dominated by conservatives and voter suppression being practiced by Republicans at the state level, it becomes clear why our political institutions function poorly. Our political structures overweight the interests of a minority of the nation’s population. American politics is not representative of the entire country, and institutions have not been sufficiently updated to reflect how the country has changed since 1789. The contemporary system engenders extremism and hyper-partisanship that prevents us from addressing the roots causes such as income inequality and geographic disparities that disturb many voters.

If we are not careful, our political dysfunction could endanger our scientific and technological expertise. Unless we make meaningful changes that improve political representation and institutional performance, we risk a future where both our politics and science are terrible. That would be a catastrophic outcome for the United States and endanger our economy, society, and global leadership.

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Politics

‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Politics

Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Politics

Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

Published

2 days ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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