Maria Hoyt Cashin - Sustaining the League of Women Voters in America

Maria Hoyt Cashin

Copyright 2012 by Maria Hoyt Cashin.

New Academia Publishing 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013930330

ISBN 978-0-9860216-9-5 paperback (alk. paper)

PO Box 27420, Washington, DC 20038-7420

This manuscript also exists in slightly different thesis form under the title: The Democratic Merit and Sustainability of Participatory Public Interest Associations: A Case Study of the League of Women Voters.

Democratic associations are cause for both hope and concern in contemporary America. Many well-known groups that inspired active, bridging membership to expand representation have disbanded or shrunk because of shifting social and political culture. In their place, the bulk of current associations are rigid hierarchies that cement difference in practice and operate without viable membership direction or participation. In structural, purposive and developmental contrast to that trend, the League of Women Voters is frequently cited as a laudable civic enterprise that models a positive democratic association. Critics do exist, charging for example that by virtue of its association form, the League is simply another interest group and thus subject to scrutiny for self-serving purpose, fallible focus and manipulated process. But close examination will support an argument that the League is unusually capable of rendering internal and external democratic benefits through its enhancement of personalized and national democratic process, reliance on consensus and deliberation, and systematic pursuit of a public interest.

In order to better understand what makes an association democratically beneficial, this book takes an interdisciplinary approach. It considers the League of Women Voters origins, evolution, record, membership, and gradually declining numbers in the context of democratic theory, American history, and organizational study. These combined perspectives pose reasons for the Leagues longevity and enable a forecast, through its prospects, for the character of future self-rule through civic-focused associations. The fact that the League faces uncertain future while other sectarian, hierarchical and, in some cases, democracy-disabling groups are thriving is due at least in part to a deep public divide on whether citizen participation is a positive element in contemporary American democracy. Yet democracy can only be valid in theory and legitimate in practice if more people exhibit appreciation for their citizenship and its constitutionally set terms. To strengthen engaged self-rule that draws from public interest groups like the League, Americans need to reinvigorate a national civic culture that regulates and expands fair participation, tolerates and benefits from difference, and looks forward through deliberative process toward an enlarged public interest that breeds both legitimate citizen assent and responsible policy and governance. That form of legitimacy amounts to a definition of the Leagues history and promise, underlining a judgment that it should be protected from some form of Camelot-like fate through closer appreciation of its contributions to democracy.

The fact that this book has moved forward is testimony to the terrific support of Thomas M. Kerch, PhD during the closing year of my recent graduate studies at Georgetown University. He provided wise council on democratic theory, conducted careful analysis of my argument and gamely took on exploration of the Progressive Era, womens suffrage and the League of Women Voters. I also extend deep gratitude to my husband Steve and children Oliver, Madeleine and Ben for encouraging me through extended months of research and writing. Rachel Shone kindly obtained membership data from the Daughters of the American Revolution and set up the graphs in Appendices 1 and 2. Charles Yonkers, JD and Emily Hoechst, PhD provided invaluable advice for clarifying my message as it shifted to book form. Finally and most importantly, members and staff of the League of Women Voters graciously welcomed engagement and discussion for which I am extremely appreciative; the resulting participation in social gatherings, annual meetings and private audiences was invaluable for fathoming the character and makeup of their justly celebrated deliberative operation.

American democratic institutions are built upon a guarded faith in a limited but developmental capacity of the countrys citizens to actualize freedom, equality and self-determination through the exercise of their democratic rights. If indeed this exercise has atrophied with misuse, as pre-2008 voting records and November 2010 election returns suggest, the question is whether the loss of freedom, equality and self-determination via those institutions can be far behind. The exercise of democratic rights is theoretically a deliberate activity, to be activated or bypassed by individual choice. But in practice, obstructions abound to deter participation. Citizen engagement in process is deeply affected by available vehicles to link both passive and proactive citizens with the quality of their governmental representation and their perception of its legitimacy.

An alternative vernacular title to this work could be America! Eat Your Own Home-Grown Spinach Before Presenting it for Someone Elses Consumption. Active citizenship is personally compelling to me, in part because of the many years Ive lived and traveled in Africa. In the midst of extended residence in Nairobi, Kenya during the 1980s and 1990s, I witnessed incredible bravery on a widespread scale, as people struggled for expression, solidarity, decent living standards and tolerant self-rule during the height of that countrys democracy movement. For the last seven years, Ive been intimately connected with Liberia, as its people struggle to take a democratic path away from a violent past. In both cases, those citizens are very aware of two realities Americans seem to forget: To protect citizen rights and accompanying benefits, people need to energize, educate themselves and vote. Institutional democratic process is a gift to that end, provided participation is full and fair. Returning from sundry places like Kenya and Liberia, I am dumbfounded to find Americans assertively disengaged from both their internationally touted democratic process and the shared aspects of their civil society. They remain unconvinced of their obligation to exercise their rights, so hard won by past generations. Im not alone in this concern. Increasing numbers of scholars are convinced that reforming American democracy at home is far more pressing than experimenting in self-congratulating democracy promotion abroad. The first step should be nonpartisan dedication to revitalizing a national civic culture to get the country back on track.