2008 Woodie Awards
The beauty of our federalist system
Jonathan Klingler
Issue date: 2/27/07 Section: Viewpoint
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As a columnist for The Observer, I have to try and come up with something interesting to write about every two weeks, and I've had many conversations with other columnists about the difficulty of finding topics which you, the reader, would be interested in. This is a tough problem, and my approach is to read the letters you send to the editor, take the issue and put forth my view on the matter in a reasoned and respectful way. This approach, however, requires me to read Viewpoint almost every day, and in the course of doing so I see that very few of the debates in this section end with compromise. Most of the time, the rhetoric only gets worse and both sides end as sharply divided as they were when the discussion began.
American society in this respect is not far removed from the Notre Dame community. In our society there are many issues on which both sides hold nearly irreconcilable differences. I highly doubt that we will ever reach a societal consensus on drug policy, the role of religion in public life or abortion. Positions on these issues depend on foundational principles, and as such, are not easily changed.
Different areas of the country hold varying predominant foundational principles, and debates on controversial issues often begin when communities enact laws based on these principles. Soon afterwards, the actors involved in the debate turn to the national stage where they seek to see their policy enacted at the federal level. In 1973, abortion supporters were able to force the legalization of abortion on the entire country, including communities which were fiercely against the practice. Though abortion was a state issue before Roe v. Wade, the pro-life movement focused on winning national victories to limit or eliminate the practice. Because of the initial nationalization of the issue in 1973, members of both sides of the debate not only seek to advance their cause in states that support their stance, but seek to enact their policy in states that do not.
American society in this respect is not far removed from the Notre Dame community. In our society there are many issues on which both sides hold nearly irreconcilable differences. I highly doubt that we will ever reach a societal consensus on drug policy, the role of religion in public life or abortion. Positions on these issues depend on foundational principles, and as such, are not easily changed.
Different areas of the country hold varying predominant foundational principles, and debates on controversial issues often begin when communities enact laws based on these principles. Soon afterwards, the actors involved in the debate turn to the national stage where they seek to see their policy enacted at the federal level. In 1973, abortion supporters were able to force the legalization of abortion on the entire country, including communities which were fiercely against the practice. Though abortion was a state issue before Roe v. Wade, the pro-life movement focused on winning national victories to limit or eliminate the practice. Because of the initial nationalization of the issue in 1973, members of both sides of the debate not only seek to advance their cause in states that support their stance, but seek to enact their policy in states that do not.