Leaderless opposition

The United States is a representative democracy. Registered party members choose those whom they wish to represent them prior to an election open to all eligible to vote. So far so good.

Despite the flaws inherent in primaries such as ‘playing to the base,’ it’s a system that elects representatives at every level pretty much fairly and efficiently. It’s less good, however, at electing national leaders other than the President and has no role in electing government officials.

There is one particular elected role in parliamentary democracies which, in the United States, does not formally exist at all: The party leader. We have majority and minority leaders in Congress but no overall leader. Elsewhere, things are different.

It won’t have escaped anyone’s attention that the resignation of Justin Trudeau triggered a contest for the Liberal Party leadership in Canada. Mark Carney won and, as the Liberals were the governing party, also became the Prime Minister and will remain so until the General Election. The same happens in the United Kingdom, for better or worse, and in many other parliamentary democracies.

The purpose of these elections is to elect a leader, not just a nominee, either of the party and the government or of the party, or parties, of opposition. In the latter case the role of the leader is to represent the opposition and to determine the ‘shadow leadership’ that matches the cabinet and government departments on specific areas of policy.

That provides a solution to a significant shortcoming of our system. In the United States, we lack a structure that allows the opposition to properly co-ordinate their alternative approaches to taxes, tariffs, government efficiency, minority rights, immigration and the rest. If there was a Leader of the Opposition, maybe we would.

Imagine this. On the Monday after Thanksgiving 2025 the Democratic Leadership primary could begin. For practical purposes the ballot might be restricted to ten candidates, that short list being determined by a ballot among Democratic members of the Senate, the House of Representatives and incumbent Governors.

The process will culminate following debates and town halls with a Super Tuesday like vote in every state on the same day in February 2026. The election to be decided by the aggregate popular vote among registered Democrats. The winner will be the Democratic nominee for the 2028 general election and will lead the party through the 2026 mid-terms.

I may be in the minority, but I would relish the idea of a contest involving Beshear, Buttigieg, Cooper, Cuomo, Jeffries, Newsom, Shapiro, Walz, Whitmer and others. One winner and the potential for shadow cabinet of significant quality and experience. Importantly it would allow for the development of policy platforms for the whole of the electoral cycle and for the eventual appointment of a future cabinet of leaders who have been subjected to public scrutiny.

This alone is worth the effort, in many countries the idea of a cabinet comprising unelected officials would be absurd, more so if, in that same country, it was deemed desirable or necessary to elect the Town Clerk and the Sheriff. Perhaps the most attractive element of this proposal is that it represents real change that can bypass the sclerosis of Congress and the courts in order to allow a real voice of thoughtful opposition to emerge in this election cycle and every cycle in the future.

Rob Norman lives in West Cornwall.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

Join us for


 

  

Keep ReadingShow less
Summer Nights of Canaan

Wednesday, July 16

Cobbler n’ Cream
5 to 7 p.m.
Freund’s Farm Market & Bakery | 324 Norfolk Rd.

Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park

Keep ReadingShow less
When the guide gets it wrong

Rosa setigera is a native climbing rose whose simple flowers allow bees to easily collect pollen.

Dee Salomon

After moving to West Cornwall in 2012, we were given a thoughtful housewarming gift: the 1997 edition of “Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs.” We were told the encyclopedic volume was the definitive gardener’s reference guide — a fact I already knew, having purchased one several months earlier at the recommendation of a gardener I admire.

At the time, we were in the thick of winter invasive removal, and I enjoyed reading and dreaming about the trees and shrubs I could plant to fill in the bare spots where the bittersweet, barberry, multiflora rose and other invasive plants had been.Years later, I purchased the 2011 edition, updated and inclusive of plants for warm climates.

Keep ReadingShow less
A few highlights from Upstate Art Weekend 2025

Foxtrot Farm & Flowers’ historic barn space during UAW’s 2024 exhibition entitled “Unruly Edges.”

Brian Gersten

Art lovers, mark your calendars. The sixth edition of Upstate Art Weekend (UAW) returns July 17 to 21, with an exciting lineup of exhibitions and events celebrating the cultural vibrancy of the region. Spanning eight counties and over 130 venues, UAW invites residents and visitors alike to explore the Hudson Valley’s thriving creative communities.

Here’s a preview of four must-see exhibitions in the area:

Keep ReadingShow less