Parliamentary Performativity
Watching the events that unfolded dual-screen on Wednesday the 6th of January, I was struck by a number of observations. The subversion of American democracy by a seditious mob, whipped into rage and fury by a president’s lies, storming the capitol and putting Lawmakers and staff directly in harm’s way. The sight of gleeful, rioters as they milled around the Senate floor, sat at Speaker Pelosi’s desk, waltzed around the capitol rotunda with ‘souvenirs.’ The symbols of delusion in stark contrast with the halls of the People’s House. A confederate battle flag waving in the halls of congress, something that never occurred during the bloody war which was fought between our country and the traitorous state that flag represents. Capitol police, dangerously understaffed, overwhelmed, taking selfies. A sea of flags, awash over the Capitol steps, on the scaffolding set for the ceremonial transition of power these seditionists were attempting to halt.
The whole set of events was a dizzying example of America’s political ills. The result of deep polarization, progressing over years, propagated by emotionally charged opinion television pitched as factual news. The storming of the Capitol was the reaping of three decades of sowing. The climax of years of Republican politicians telling their voters to get angry, to view political conflict as political combat. A climax built from years of deceitful information and media bifurcation. I doubt the Capitol insurrection will be the last we see of this cohort. 45% of Republicans support what they saw take place at the US Capitol. Security will be tighter at the inauguration for incoming President Biden, but I doubt we won’t see similar protests getting as close to the event as they are allowed. And moving into the Biden presidency, one in which Democrats will hold the House, Senate, and White House, we’ve only begun to see the depths to which these insurrectionists will stoop. Being out-of-power isn’t going to make their concerns any less powerful.
Maybe the observation that struck me the most after the fact, was the way in which many of the seditionists didn’t understand the gravity of their actions in the moment. As events were livestreamed by the participants, one need only look for a few seconds to recognize the party like atmosphere. Silly costumes, exuberant expressions, waves to the camera while walking away with stolen affects. Committing crimes at the highest seat of legislative power all while making sure to get a good selfie while doing so. In a certain respect I feel deeply sorry for these folks, not because of what they committed, but because of why they did it. As these seditionists stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the procedure of a legitimate election, they did so thinking they were the defenders of American democracy. For two months, their president, his party, and their favorite opinion journalists told them that the election was fishy, fraudulent, stolen. What else would you expect from a cheated electorate? They had marched on the Capitol to save democracy, or so they had been convinced, in the process they showed just how weak American democracy is at this moment.
While anger at the images is understandable, I’ve attempted to keep my ire for the political elites who made this all possible. Chief insurrectionist, Senator Josh Hawley has been at the receiving end of harsh criticism from across the political spectrum following his role in legitimating the seditionists fears. In all, 138 GOP representatives and 7 GOP senators voted their objection to the count of electoral college votes for Joe Biden. There’s always the question of politician intent, how many of these politicians actually thought there was fraud or irregularities in the election? Probably very few. However, the GOP is beholden to the crowd which stormed their place of work. There is a performativity that comes with congressional voting. A politician's vote can always come back to haunt them in the form of a primary opponent or oppositional smear campaign. So over half the House GOP decided that they needed to show their fealty to the movement their president has created. The danger that American democracy faces is a crisis in representation. While the romantic view of American politics has our elected Representatives being of such high character that they can vote their conscious regardless of the political cost, the reality is that our representatives are beholden to the voters that send them to congress. For Republicans that means that a significant portion of their voters are the same people who stormed the Capitol. Our system is poorly built to deal with a radicalized population.
Even before the Capitol was sieged on the sixth, I was struck by watching the proceedings inside. As objections of the counting process unfolded, we were treated to the performative displays of politicians looking for the right sound bite for their home audience. Recently elected Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert took to the floor to contest the election of Joe Biden and practically yelled her indignation for five minutes. It was the sort of invective you’d expect to start a fight, or at least require some level of response. But the chamber isn’t built for actual debate or response. Instead, Speaker Pelosi could be hurt chuckling before recognizing the next member. This happened mere minutes before invasion would bring the Capitol into lockdown. It was indicative of the level of discourse in American legislative proceedings. Speeches are written and delivered on the floor of the House and Senate, not as a means of convincing others to join their cause, but to be chopped up for outside consumption. Newt Gingrich devised this technique in the mid 90s by speaking in front of an empty chamber knowing that CSPAN would have to film him and his fiery rhetoric could be broadcast to a national audience who had no idea he was speaking to an empty room. Now, it’s the primary function of all chamber speeches.
Parliamentary performativity is obviously not new, and it’s not something that we can simply be rid of either. Legislative bodies are necessarily dramatic places. Stages of democracy and lawmaking, where bit characters can become national superstars if they strike the right tone. Politicians are incentivized to make incendiary or impassioned speeches in order to get the attention of potential voters should they decide to make a move to a larger electorate in the next election. Other systems combat this by having more proportional parliamentary elections. For example, in Denmark politicians are elected either by direct votes from their constituents or via party representation where the party receives a number of seats which they are then allowed to distribute to their members. Furthermore, considering the unitary nature of parliamentary systems, politicians are tasked with moving up the ranks in their own party as opposed to appealing to a broader range of voters in order to gain more power. But even in a system like Denmark’s, parliamentary performativity is still a hallmark of the process. Instead of making speeches to reach outside eyes, a politician makes speeches to appeal to their own party members.
Performativity can become dangerous when it is used to perpetuate lies to the electorate. Such as the examples we’ve seen recently. The desire to appeal to a base of voters who have been fed lies and misinformation requires that the politicians adopt those lies and misinformation as their own. What was instructive in the certification process was the reasoning House and Senate Republicans gave for their objections. Most claimed that their constituents had concerns and that required them to act. Basically, they made the argument that many people were saying it and therefore it was their duty to their constituents to address their faulty concerns. Representatives ought to be responsive to their constituents, that’s what they are elected to do, but they should also be honest with their constituents. We elect representatives because to have direct democracy would be overly cumbersome in a nation of 300 million. Those representatives know better, that’s why they are elected, and for them to become performatively captured by lies and misinformation is gravely concerning.
The storming of the Capitol will never go away. The day in which American democracy showed it’s tremendous weakness to itself and the world. The displays of parliamentary performativity will continue as politicians are held hostage by the most radical among their supporters. The new administration will have to deal with a performativity which will pretend it’s status is illegitimate. Biden and Congressional Democrats will face not only a fierce opposition, but an opposition that could burst again into violent flames. Over half of the House opposition has shown themselves willing to play their role and pretend the election was fraudulent, this before even assuming full opposition status. I’m incredibly hopeful for the change that can come from the Biden administration with the help of congress in the next two years, concurrently, I’m deeply concerned that the storming of the Capitol is just the first act in a violent mob of anti-democratic behavior from Republican voters.
