We must return to basics

We are at a profoundly unsettled time in our nation's history, with more than two-thirds of Americans professing in surveys that they believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. They are partly reflecting concerns of the moment - the Iraq war, high gas prices, our economic travails - but polling also shows a more deep-seated dismay at the track our political system has taken.

Our politics is fragmented and often mean-spirited. Americans are disappointed by a sense that we lack unity and national purpose. They are disillusioned by a political leadership that has failed to instill these things, and many believe they and their concerns are unrepresented in the halls of power. Faith in our system is ailing.

So while out on the hustings the talk is mostly of policy - what to do about the economy or our standing in the world or our dysfunctional health care system - there is a more fundamental conversation that ought to be happening, as well: If we are to fix our government so it works competently, effectively and democratically, how should we go about it? What would it take not only to revive our system, but also our people's faith in it?

My answer may seem odd, given how badly askew most Americans believe things have gotten: Rather than "fix" our representative government, we need to let it function as designed. We have to return to the basics of our constitutional system, understanding and appreciating its intent and contemplating how this might apply to our vastly changed circumstances today.

It's worth remembering that the basic operating manual for our government was written some 220 years ago, when we were a much smaller, less complicated, less diverse nation, when communications and events moved much more slowly, and when the sheer breadth and scope of challenges facing the government - while hardly minor - were more manageable.

Things are out of whack. Too much power has come to rest in the president's hands, and it needs to be spread more widely again - the "balance of power" should be observed in actuality, not merely in seventh-grade civics class.

We also need to accept that there will inevitably be conflict - our system presupposes it - but that winning political battles is not the highest good; rather, resolving conflict within the confines of the Constitution and according to democratic principles trumps the victory-at-all-costs mentality that has been so prevalent in recent years. Compromise and accommodation, especially in a nation with so many varied interests at play, are the key to policy success and political legitimacy.

This, in turn, means tolerating and encouraging lively debate and thorough deliberation - both in Washington and among a population that seems to be losing the habit of listening to those with whom we disagree.

All of which is to say that what our Founders knew, and tried to ensure, was that in governance, the means are more important than the end.

Yet even if all these things happen, restoring Americans' faith in the system will require one other thing: patience.
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 Lee Hamilton is director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.