Joseph Sabino Mistick: In government, not everybody gets a trophy

In 1832, as New York Sen. William Learned Marcy was defending the spoils system in politics, he used the phrase “to the victor belong the spoils.” In those days, thousands of jobs could change hands every time the political party in charge changed.

Civil service eventually eliminated that, and it’s good that it did. Somebody has to keep us on course through political chaos and change. But every four years we still take the pulse of the nation with a national election.

And that is supposed to count for something. Old values and programs are either embraced or rejected, and the current regime and president are either reelected or replaced. We vote for the status quo or we vote for change.

The founders were concerned that the losers of the national election and debate would be held down once vanquished. In James Madison’s Federalist 10, we were warned that the tyranny of the majority and oppression of the minority posed great danger to America’s future.

But oppression of the minority is of less concern now, because these days the minority successfully oppresses the majority. From the filibuster to the Electoral College to redistricting, the minority wields the power to block the will of the majority of voters.

The filibuster, as it now exists, is a leading culprit. Its fans claim that it protects minority views, slowing the march of legislation into law, forcing deliberation. But more recently it has been used to block consideration of anything that the majority party proposes.

If any senator filibusters to block a proposed law, it will take 60 votes of a 100-member Senate to stop that filibuster and allow the legislation to move forward. It is a mash of custom and parliamentary rules, and that once-romantic notion of a solitary senator speaking from principle until he collapses on the Senate floor only exists in old movies.

Even in its best days, the filibuster was used for bad in the wrong hands. South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond filibustered for a record 24 hours and 18 minutes to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The bill passed eventually with bipartisan support, but not without a scare.

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, the current voting rights bill, is unlikely to survive a modern filibuster in this Senate. Professor Richard Hasen, an election law expert, wrote in The Washington Post last week that voting rights advocates will have to write a narrower bill, even though that “still might require blowing up the filibuster.”

If the filibuster is eliminated or changed, the minority will still have plenty of institutional protection. The Electoral College allows a collection of smaller states and a minority of voters to choose the president. Twice since 2000, the loser of the popular votes for president was declared the winner.

And redistricting and gerrymandering season is nearly here. Through crafty line drawing, minority parties have always been able to hold a majority in Congress and state legislatures, even when they have far fewer registered voters than the other party.

In some kids’ sports leagues everybody gets a trophy because everybody is a winner. But that’s not how government works. When the people pick the winners and vote for change, their voices should not be ignored.