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How not to reform our electoral system
Our system needs reform, but some things work surprisingly well
In his classic text, Democracy in America, Alexis de Toqueville wrote about American individualism, describing it as “self-interest, properly understood.” It’s amazing to think that a 19th century aristocratic French diplomat in the 1830s could have understood us so well.
De Toqueville was not a fan of individualism per se, but he marveled at how Americans as individualists could work together in a way that perpetuated a civil society. He admired our civic organizations, our local governments, our lack of central authority, a seemingly disorganized mess somehow working together.
Much of our system is set up to harness individual self interest in a way that it advances the common good. Indeed, this philosophy is a central tenet to capitalism itself, the “invisible hand” Adam Smith described.
Similarly, prosecutors pursue prominent bad guys not only because the law demands it of them, but because their careers will flourish when they convict a prominent wrongdoer. Just ask Rudy Giuliani about that. He’s a former prosecutor who parlayed prosecutorial success into the mayoralty of New York and a national political stage.
