The people’s primary
Re “A democratic delusion,” Opinion, May 2
Political scientists Christopher H. Achen and Larry M. Bartels support undemocratic primary election rules that give us brokered conventions and unaccountable superdelegates. They lament complaints from voters over perceived disenfranchisement. Delusional “folk theorists,” they write, neglect to understand their limitations as policy stewards.
True, our esteemed founding aristocracy subsequently took a number of reformist hits — popular election of senators, the expansion of voting rights and the rise of an egalitarian society. Appalling.
But contemplate the treasure aristocracy has patiently retaken. Monopoly is back. Inequality is vast. Corporations are people. Money is speech. Candidates are bought. Incumbents are owned. The legal system is two- tiered. Doors revolve. Regulations are optional. Gerrymandering is legal, as is voter suppression. Voting machines are ubiquitous, commercial, proprietary and unverifiable.
Give the primaries to the voters. It will make them happy. Curtis Selph Lancaster
I was dismayed by the oversimplification of the 1968 electoral process in this op- ed article, which equated the 1968 Democratic nomination of Hubert Humphrey to a possible brokered Republican convention that would deny Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz the nomination.
There were significant distortions and omissions in the article:
President Lyndon Johnson dropped out of the race after Sen. Eugene McCarthy performed well against him in early primaries.
Sen. Robert Kennedy jumped into the race after McCarthy’s early success.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey picked up many delegates through the caucus process.
Many southern Democrats abandoned the party to support George Wallace.
The process was thrown into disarray when the most popular candidate, Robert Kennedy, was assassinated in June.
Antiwar activists, not disgruntled Kennedy and McCarthy supporters, battled police in Chicago.
Gross distortions and simplifications do not help citizens understand the important decisions being made in the complicated 2016 presidential race. David Overly Glendora
Achen and Bartels mask the true problem — lack of democratic accountability — through a series of elitist sophistries.
Lack of accountability f lows from what Noam Chomsky describes as the “democracy deficit” — the significant gap between the policies favored by the electorate and their “representatives.” This, Chomsky asserts, is brought on by the manner in which “elections are skillfully managed to avoid issues and marginalize the underlying population … freeing the elected leadership to serve the substantial people.”
What Achen and Bartels refer to as “political professionals” and “superdelegates” are establishment politicians whose allegiance lies with their wealthy campaign donors or what Chomsky refers to as the “substantial people.” Ernest A. Canning Thousand Oaks