Hubris. The dictionary gives us synonyms like arrogance, overconfidence and extreme pride. For the ancient Greeks hubris was when mere mortals thought they could challenge the gods. It seldom turned out well.
There is another way to look at hubris. In the context of a political system, or even more, a system of governance, hubris leads elected officials to believe their will is what counts. The public becomes a mass to be led, whether they like it or not, to an end point desired by the elected official. If that desired end happens to benefit the elected official, so be it, a deserving outcome for having led others so well.
————–
Hubris leads elected officials to believe their will is what counts. The public becomes a mass to be led.
————–
We see this pattern in the political machines of both parties, where competition is negligible.
One of the characteristics that supports arrogance in elected officials is the ease with which certain officials get to stay in office, to maintain power, to openly thwart what the public asks for knowing that no consequence will be forthcoming. Reelection is guaranteed.
Look seriously at the general election results in Cape May County. See the large number of offices where the incumbent runs unopposed for a seat on a governing body. Yes, we all know that the Democratic Party in the county has trouble coming up with viable candidates. But a glance at the primaries often delivers the same picture, Republican races without challengers.
Preselected candidates chosen by the political bosses and placed on a ballot, alone and unchallenged, to be rubber-stamped by the electorate. Some work hard to discern and meet the needs of constituents broadly defined, but the freedom to act from a “safe” seat remains a problem.
When County Commission Director Len Desiderio boasted at the Jan. 2 commission reorganization meeting that he is 28-0 in elections in which he has run, he was boasting about winning elections in which, for many of them, he had no competition either for his commission seat or for mayor of Sea Isle City.
No need to single out Desiderio. Having no competition in a reelection bid at the county or municipal level is not unique to his races.
Competition in our economy drives innovation; it ensures improvement in services and puts downward pressure on prices. That same competition has a positive impact on politics. Yet in Cape May County the Republican Party committee more often makes the choice of who will run and who will win the seat, often by virtue of being the only candidate on the ballot.
————–
Instead of voters being presented with a general list of candidates, the voters are being manipulated.
We see the party’s favored candidates featured in the most prominent positions.
————–
Our county is facing some major issues that promise to become more rather than less significant over time. We have lost many of our young families because they cannot afford to live here. We are the county with the oldest median age in the state. Affordable housing is nonexistent. Homelessness has risen each year. Our schools underperform on state tests, yet cost more each year. The drug problem in this county is all too real. Threats from climate change are growing.
Sure, every county has its problems. But we have difficulty even knowing what our elected officials are doing, supposedly on our behalf. We ask for the simplest of reforms to gain more transparency and immediately meet resistance.
Who can understand weeks of debate over greater transparency by the county commissioners resulting in a decision to release poor-quality audiotapes of commission meetings 72 hours after the meeting rather than two weeks? Is this really the act of officials who see themselves as servants of the people? This says more about hubris than these elected officials ever intended to make visible.
What is the solution? It sure isn’t easy. What needs to happen is that elected officials must face real competition for their seats, whether in the primary or the general election. That competition must make them justify their actions and decisions.
The best example of this dominance of a single party organization is the county line ballot. It allows the agenda of the county party organization to be the only agenda before the voters.
The county line ballot puts names in the most prominent position on the ballot only if those candidates have been endorsed by the party organization. Other candidates running for the same office in the primaries are banished to the edges of the ballot, less likely to be seen, less likely to be considered.
Instead of voters being presented with the list of candidates for a specific office, they see most prominently the candidates picked by the small party organization. Candidates for the same office from the same party are not given prominent space because they did not pledge allegiance to the party organization.
Newly elected Sen. Andy Kim litigated the use of the county line ballot and won a victory for the primaries in 2024, but only on the Democratic side. The county line format is most likely dead for 2025, but lawmakers in the Assembly are still trying to gain advantages for the county party organizations.
The county line ballot has to go. It gives uneven power to the county party committees, both Democratic and Republican. In 2021 one party controlled every county office in 18 of the state’s 21 counties, everything from commissioner to surrogate. That is the antithesis of a vibrant, competitive political environment.
In Cape May County a real opposition needs to be organized, with serious candidates ready to run for office – whether they are Democrats, independents or alternative Republicans. We cannot expect the best ideas to rise to the top without competition.
If we don’t break this cycle, if we don’t introduce and support serious competition into our governance cycles, if we cannot find time in our lives to work toward a more open and responsive political system, then we forfeit our right to complain.
Democracy is not just messy, as the famous quote goes; it is also hard work.
——————-
Quotes from the Bible
“When his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.” Daniel 5:20
This verse warns against the arrogance of leaders who believe they are untouchable, showing that unchecked power eventually leads to downfall.
