On Wednesday night, my daughter and I curled up in our living room to watch Congress vote, for the third time in history, to impeach the president of the United States. As I walked my daughter through what was going on and what the votes meant, I found myself reciting lessons learned long ago in my beloved high school civics class.
“Impeachment is part of the checks and balances the framers wrote into the Constitution,” I explained.
“Why does it take so long?” she asked. “Why can’t we just remove him immediately?”
“Because,” I replied, “the framers wanted to take politics out of the process. The intent was to avoid rashness and to make it difficult so impeachment is used only when necessary. In this house, we may not like the president’s policies, but that has nothing to do with it. This is about protecting democracy.”
As we continued to watch, those words — protecting democracy — kept rolling around in my head. What does democracy mean in our country today, a mere breath away from the 2020 elections, when we have low voter turnout, states that have been gerrymandered to fit the needs of those in power and voter suppression laws popping up at every turn? And what does democracy mean in states like ours where we are not immune to a disengaged electorate, a growing malaise with politics and distrust in government? And what does it mean when so many people are struggling so hard to just get by that they don’t have the time or the energy to participate, even if they wanted to do so?
The answer to those questions is hidden in plain sight in the word democracy itself, which comes from the Greek: demos, the people; kratia, the power. In short, democracy only exists when we agree that it must, and because democracy is people power, it is delicate. Like any other human relationship, it must be tended to and fostered. No one party — or one person — should have all the power. There is no such thing as agreeing on every issue. Robust, constructive debate and disagreement are healthy, encourage creative thinking, and avoid getting stuck in patterns that do not work. Democracy is messy, uncomfortable, never simple or easy — and ultimately worth it when policy works for the many and serves the greater good.
Perhaps it is the season or the fact that we will celebrate solstice and the return of the light this weekend, but I find myself filled with hope amidst the darkness and the heavy news that fills our television screens and newspapers.
As I think back over 2019, I find many moments that have given me faith that our state, our country and our democracy are headed in the right direction. This year, time and time again, the Sunrise Movement and climate activists have filled the State House halls to demand a legislative response to the climate emergency, often facing arrest even though the Legislature, through legislative inaction, has committed the greater wrong.
Families who struggle to make ends meet have shown up to write postcards and even testify in person about the importance of food stamps and the healthy incentives program, a program that gives people access to fresh, local produce and benefits our area farmers.
Community members have come together to figure out creative ways to help people facing housing insecurity to navigate the process of finding affordable housing. People have stopped me in grocery store aisles to talk about the importance of not giving multimillion dollar corporations tax breaks. School children have written letters talking about the importance of getting rid of copays and deductibles so their families have greater access to primary care physicians.
Those are flickers — glimpses of hope — and we need to keep fanning those flames until the light truly breaks through the darkness. Democracy is complex, but the path to maintaining it need not be. It starts with the simple realization that politics affects every aspect of our lives, and, to participate in our government, we simply need to start a conversation and keep bringing more and more people into it.
Lindsay Sabadosa is a Northampton resident and the state representative for the 1st Hampshire District. She can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.