American Democracy No Longer Resembles Baseball

Only a culturally homogenous country can support the kind of government desired by George Will

George Will was once one of the most influential thinkers in conservatism. In the Trump era, he’s thankfully been cast out and right-thinking people recognize him as a preeminent midwit. Will embodied much of the goofiness of pre-Trump conservatism. He celebrated mass immigration while saving up his rhetorical fire for the real threat to the West: denim jeans.

Will still has his fans among boomer libs and centrists who pine for pre-Trump “civility.” One of his most famous opinions was delivered in the Ken Burns documentary on baseball. It regularly goes viral and is frequently touted by the Washington Post and other outlets as one of the best descriptions of American democracy.

In the old clip, the columnist argues Americans love baseball because the sport is just like our form of government.

Baseball suits the character of this democratic nation. Democracy is government by persuasion. That means it requires patience. That means it involves a lot of compromise. Democracy is the slow politics of the half loaf. … In baseball, you know going to the ballpark that the chances are you may win, but you also may lose. There is no certainty, no given. You know when the season starts that the best team is going to get beaten a third of the time. The worst team is going to win a third of the time. The argument over 162 games is that middle third. So, it’s a game that you can’t like if winning is everything, and democracy is that way, too.

This tripe is considered profound in many circles. But let’s take it as an idealistic way to envision our democracy. Essentially, the parties involved in politics don’t view winning and losing as matters of life and death. It’s just a game, like baseball. There’s a shared understanding that the loser won’t be murdered after a defeat and there’s a chance the team can win the World Series another year. A lost election is just a bad season, not a cataclysmic event. Your party will still be around. All parties are committed to the rules of baseball and keeping the league going. “We all love baseball” keeps things together in the same way “We all love America” does.

What Will essentially argues is that in order for American democracy to thrive, it needs to be culturally homogenous and dedicated to the same values. Baseball teams can’t create their own framework and culture that’s alien to the rest of the MLB. The teams have to abide by its culture and structures. Baseball teams have to see each other as fellow ball players, not as mortal enemies. They don’t kill each other after losing games. It’s how pro baseball works.

For a democracy to work, you need all parties to accept losing. In order for that to happen, they have to see the other parties as fellow Americans, not mortal enemies. It allows parties to work together in the same structures and abide by shared rules. A defeat doesn’t mean arrest or death. It just means you have to try harder next time, just like in a baseball game. Like baseball, the parties don’t ever need to worry about the basic structure changing. In American democracy, you’re not supposed to fear that one election will turn the country communist or fascist. The structures are too strong and resilient to ever allow that to happen. That allows both parties to come together after an election and effectively tell each other “good game,” no matter who wins or loses.

At least, that’s how George Will imagines it. American democracy did not always work this way. Violence was common in the antebellum era. One election result led to the Civil War. It did not look like baseball at all. But for much of the 20th century, it did. Following World War II, there weren’t strong differences between the Republicans and the Democrats. Both basically accepted the changes wrought by the New Deal, both believed in an “internationalist” foreign policy to counter global communism, and both believed in the greatness of America. It was easy to create consensus and accept losses, particularly for Republicans.

Only a dope who still admires George Will would compare American democracy to baseball today. It’s a meaner, nastier game with more at stake. It’s no longer about the “slow politics of the half loaf.” Americans want it to be all or nothing.

Both sides want to imprison their political opponents, so losing now means possible jail time. There are few shared assumptions and beliefs, besides a desire to keep the economy running and the country intact. There’s no global enemy like communism to force people to rally behind a common cause. A significant number of Democrats doubt American greatness and both parties battle over what history should be taught in schools. The old consensus has gone away. The stakes now are much higher in American politics. It’s harder to accept losing without the old common political culture and the decline in shared norms.

That’s not to say America faces the chance of another civil war or national break-up. There are several reasons why that won’t, but namely the state is too strong and the people don’t have the stomach for it. But that doesn’t mean the fighting for control of the federal government won’t get heated.

We’re starting to look more like neighbors south of the border where politics is a bloodsport. It’s not like baseball where you can l have a bad season and just move on. Defeat may result in jail or even a death sentence. One election can decide whether your country becomes a communist or right-wing authoritarian. It’s not Bush vs. Gore but Maduro vs. Bukele. You don’t tell each other “good game” when these are the opposing parties.

We’re not quite there yet. But the resemblance grows stronger with each passing year, especially with our demographic situation.

Will wrote last year: “If demography is destiny, bring on immigration; we’re going to need it.” It’s a statement he didn’t think through. Demography is burying his precious notion of democracy as a baseball game.