Healthy Things Grow
I sat down for Sunday service with Yuval Levin’s new book, American Covenant, still on my mind. Waiting for Pastor Barry to come to the stage, I pulled out the day’s notes and my Bible. I opened my Bible to a page marked by an old note card. On it, I had written down something Barry said back in August: “Healthy things grow” and “Disease is caused by imbalance.”
America has grown from thirteen scrappy colonies into an Empire of United Republican States, and along the way, our leaders had visions of Manifest Destiny, bringing liberty from sea to shining sea. However, the House of Representatives hasn’t grown since 1913, and the Senate since 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii were added to the Union.
James Madison believed healthy things grow. He advocated for a republic to be most effective; it should operate within an extensive sphere. This would secure balance, making it harder for power to be concentrated and controlled. However, representation has grown stagnant, and Congress has delegated authority to administrative agencies and the Presidency, creating an imbalance of power.
During morning service, Barry said something that resonated with me. He said, “Sometimes people think the answer is control.” He gave the example of holding a wet bar of soap. If you try too hard to control and squeeze it, it will probably shoot out of your hand, and you will lose control. But if you hold your hand flat, it just sits there.
Levin's book explains the Wilsonian vision of government, which concentrates power, giving a few people more control as a means to govern more effectively. (Check out my last post to learn more.) However, under the Wilsonian vision, Congress has failed to pass meaningful immigration reform, balance the budget, and pay down the debt. Control is not the answer. The bar of soap is slipping away, and our leaders should loosen their grip.
Levin points out how “institutions and culture shape each other” and how when they become “dysfunctional or deformed, our habits and behavior become broken.” The Wilsonian vision of the Progressive Era is at odds with the Madisonian vision of our founding. It has shaped much of modern political thought, which has led to changing habits about Republican government. The changing habits have resulted in a stagnated republic and an imbalance of power. Madison would be disappointed. We are not growing, and power is concentrated.
It's hard to say why exactly we stopped growing. How and why we acquired territory and added representation during the Antebellum and Progressive Era was not always done with the most honorable intentions. It’s possible that reflection on these events, the new Wilsonian Vision of control, or a combination of both reshaped our thinking about expanding the sphere of Republican government.
If Madison were alive today, he would probably recommend increasing representation in the House of Representatives, as Levin does in his book. Madison might also advocate for giving representation to U.S. territories like Puerto Rico. Groups in Puerto Rico have advocated for representation as far back (that I have found) as the 1930s. After all, representation is, as Levin says, “A vital source of legitimacy for a Republican Government.” A republic that is extending the sphere and growing is a republic that is healthy and balanced.
Peace and Love,
Jeff Mayhugh