Madison’s Factions in Wisconsin

Julia Shaw / March 09, 2011

The future of democracy is at stake in Wisconsin.  According to Paul Krugman, “what Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to do is to make Wisconsin — and eventually, America — less of a functioning democracy and more of a third-world-style oligarchy.”

Thousands stormed the Wisconsin state capitol to protest Scott Walker (the “Mubarak of Madison”) and his proposals for public-sector unions. Over the past few weeks, state Senators hid out in an Illinois Motel 6, protesters littered war memorials with posters and pamphlets, doctors wrote fake notes for “sick” teachers, yoga class moved to the rotunda, and a camel from The Daily Show slipped on the icy sidewalks. But rest assured, proclaimed the crowd in matching mass-produced t-shirts, “this is what democracy looks like.”

James Madison would disagree. A public-sector union protest is not the essence of democracy. In reality, public-sector unions are a faction, and therefore dangerous to popular government. (more…)