The Loyal Opposition

 

Speaking in the British parliament in 1826, John Hobhouse coined the term “His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition” meaning that members of a legislature may oppose government policies while still respecting the higher authority of the state and—when applied in the U.S.—the overall framework of the Constitution. In America, with no “Majesty,” the term has long been shortened to “the loyal opposition,” a characteristic of a healthy democracy that allows a party out of power to dissent from government policies without being accused of treason. 

With a loyal opposition, disagreeing with the party in power is not only allowed but is respectable and even essential, giving voters a choice in every election. Dissent gives us options, which is good if the options are based on facts and conform to our democratic traditions and to the Constitution.

Fundamental to the concept of a loyal opposition is the agreement that democracy is rooted in compromise, which is likewise rooted in mutual respect among legislators who trust that the same rules apply to all. Michael Ignatieff, former leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, has written that “in the house of democracy, there are no enemies.” If there are, “legislatures replace relevance with pure partisanship. Party discipline reigns supreme … negotiation and compromise are rarely practiced, and debate … becomes as venomously personal as it is politically meaningless.” 

“No enemies” is a lesson that seems to have been lost by many members of our Republican Party. President Nixon kept an enemies list and late-90s House Speaker Newt Gingrich signed a 1990 memo to GOP legislators recommending they describe Democrats with negative words such as “sick,” “radical,” and “traitors.” Gingrich encouraged a combative approach by the GOP, including hateful language and extreme partisanship, and often questioned Democrats’ patriotism. He compared them to fascists. 

Gingrich saw the GOP as in a war for power, an attitude that took root then blossomed during the Obama Administration. This “war” led directly to the claim, with no evidence, that President Biden didn’t win the 2020 election, to a scheme to appoint fake electors, and ultimately to the violent January 6 assault on the Capitol attempting to stop the official electoral count. All of this disregarded the Constitution and the 224-year tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. The loyal opposition had become a disloyal opposition.

Thankfully, there were Republican heroes, notably Vice-president Pence and several state officials who hadn’t drunk the party-first poison and followed the law despite heavy pressure from the former president. The poison ran deep, though: GOP leaders in the House and Senate blocked a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 assault, no doubt afraid that an investigation would expose many of their party as conspirators disloyal to America. 

And the party-before-country poison is still at work. Last month, former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel tried to justify her support for the disgraced former president’s promise to pardon those convicted of participating in the January 6 Capitol assault by saying, “When you’re the RNC Chair, you kind of take one for the whole team.” In a democracy, the team is America, not any party. A loyal opposition would know that.

The party-first poison is so potent that House Republicans are now at war with each other with right-wing extremists threatening to throw out yet another Speaker of their own party for doing his job by cooperating with Democrats to pass vital legislation. Meanwhile, the former president is on trial for election interference and, along with three other pending cases, faces nearly 90 felony charges. He is estimated to have accumulated $100 million in legal fees so far. Early this year, President Obama posted a contrasting observation: “Eight years. Never had to hire a lawyer.”