Democrats’ domination could hinder government

In an article published Wednesday after the presidential election, The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof described the emerging fate of the Republican Party: “A coalition of aging white men is a recipe for failure in a nation that increasingly looks like a rainbow.”

There is no state where the GOP’s failure is more apparent than in California, where less than 30 percent of Californians registered as Republican this year, and state elections resulted in a Democratic supermajority in the legislature. At this rate, California might be running on a one-party system, which poses a serious threat to the welfare of its citizens.

This latest wave of Democratic success comes at a time when many Californians report dissatisfaction with Sacramento, citing continued high rates of unemployment. But despite the discontent, Republicans did not get elected. Democrats currently hold power in the governorship, and also every other statewide office and gained three more congressional seats last week, according to the Associated Press.

Republicans are unpopular in California largely because their conservative stances on social issues, such as immigration, abortion and gay rights, please their primary support base of white, conservative voters, but completely alienate the majority of Latinos, women and youth. This becomes especially detrimental for the GOP in a state where the population of Hispanics, blacks and Asians combined has outnumbered whites since 1998. In fact, by 2020, the Hispanic population alone is expected to top that of whites, according to the Associated Press.

But that does not mean that California — nor the nation — can survive with just one party. If anything, it necessitates a wider range of options of political leadership than the state currently has.

A major difference between Republicans and Democrats is the way they propose to handle the economic sector. If Californians are unhappy with the economy — the state boasts the third-highest unemployment rate in the country -— then voting a new party into power would be a logical conclusion. But as the most recent state election showed,  the GOP is so disconnected from citizens that this was not a viable option, demonstrating the biggest danger in a one-party system: the lack of opportunity for change.

Without multiple parties providing input and fighting for different sides of issues, progress within the state could be seriously hindered. With a supermajority in the legislature, Democrats are free to pass whatever measures they like; the two-thirds required for a vote would be nearly impossible for the opposition to secure. The U.S. government was founded on the principles of checks and balances and without them, democracy will not function as Americans need it to.

Many students, however, might see little reason to object to a Democratic majority in California. Nationally, over 60 percent of college-age people voted Democrat this election, according to the Pew Research Center. It is easy to believe that allowing the Democrats to essentially run the state government is simply a reflection of the people’s wishes. But what happens if the people change their minds, or the party they originally supported adopts an unfavorable platform while in office? When the government is saturated by one party, the most current desires of citizens cannot be fully expressed because there is much less diversity of opinion.

What is more concerning is the way in which California’s situation might serve as a precursor for the nation as a whole. The 2010 census found that for the first time ever, the birthrate of minority children is higher than that of Caucasian children. In about two decades, this means that voters will be primarily minority groups — groups that voted almost exclusively Democratic in the 2012 presidential election. According to exit polls, Obama won 93 percent of African-American voters’ support and more than 70 percent of Asians and Latinos.

Unless the GOP moderates and modernizes itself to appeal to a wider demographic, Californians and Americans across the nation will not be voting Republican anytime soon. It is crucial to have multiple parties providing input on how to govern the state and the nation, but if the GOP continues to be so disconnected from the interests of growing voting blocs, the possibility of a de-facto one-party system is not unrealistic.

Annie Wanless is an undeclared freshman.