As I’m sure you have all heard, earlier this month, Republicans trounced Democrats nationally, taking 63 House seats, six Senate spots and governor’s mansions from Maine to New Mexico and Florida to Wisconsin. Conservatism, it seems, has triumphed in this election cycle, and the national political map has been overcome by a tide of promises for smaller government, fewer taxes and repudiations of the policies of the Obama administration.
But in the macrocosmic perspective, this shift to the center-right isn’t so shocking. The world, or at least the generic stable, industrialized democracy, has been moving toward conservative policies over the past couple of years, and I’d be willing to assert that 2010 could go down as one of the most right-leaning election years ever.
Don’t believe me? Look at Britain, where voters tossed out Gordon Brown and his Labour allies, giving David Cameron’s Tories a chance to work with Nick Clegg’s newly right-tilting Lib Dems on changing the UK’s policies. After 13 years of Labour rule, what’s on the agenda? Deficit reduction, political reform and Euroscepticism.
But that’s mild compared to other elections across Europe this year.
Ponder Sweden, known to many Americans as the most left-friendly major democracy in the world. Swedes just re-elected their center-right government for the first time in a very long time. Not conservative enough? The anti-immigration, far right Sweden Democrats entered the Riksdag, sparking protests all over the country.
What about Hungary? Fidesz, the conservative party, was granted over two-thirds of seats by voters, and the far-right Jobbik nearly topped the Socialists for second place.
The list goes on. The Dutch just elected a center-right government supported by a far-right party. The Polish presidential election turned rapidly into a runoff between, you guessed it, two right-of-center candidates. Japan’s upper house turned markedly back to the Liberal Democratic Party, whose name is a misnomer for their staunchly conservative policies.
Perhaps the lone holdout against this global trend was Australia, where Julia Gillard’s Labor Party narrowly won re-election. How narrow? Labor doesn’t hold a majority, and must rely on at least two former members of the conservative National Party in order to pass legislation.
As though this weren’t striking enough, of the 27 European Union countries, only four, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Slovenia, have left-leaning governments. Nineteen, meanwhile, are right tilting. The other four are either grand coalitions of both major social democratic and conservative parties or are a mess. (I’m looking at you, Belgium.)
Our Canadian neighbors to the north are still conservative. John Key’s popularity in New Zealand is off the charts. He’s championing small government, conservative policies.
So what does this mean for all of us? We aren’t European, Australian, Japanese, or anything but good ole fashioned American.
Well, true. I understand that our entire country isn’t doused in scarlet. The Senate is still held by the Democrats, although their majority is looking rather grim, as it relies on a lot of men and women who are on the hot seat and could vote with the Republicans on a lot of legislation. And the White House is still occupied by President Obama, who still champions a lot of liberal causes.
But with another presidential election lurking around the corner, and almost certain redistricting battles looming, it certainly would not surprise me if Republicans were to hold fast or make more gains in upcoming election cycles. It certainly would not buck the global trend, where conservative ideas seem as popular as ever.
Many political commentators are stating that the Republican dominance in this election cycle is somehow a novel concept. The Tea Party is, according to these talking heads, the pinnacle of the extreme right’s manifestation in quite a while. Actually, the Tea Party looks like Nancy Pelosi compared to some of the neo-fascist movements winning elections across Europe, and was relatively marginalized within the confines of our two party system.
So, in conclusion, Republicans should be proud of winning this election, joining the Tories, Fidesz, Moderates, Dutch VVD and other victorious conservative parties. Let’s hope Speaker-elect Boehner will work with President Obama in a bipartisan, if not mildly center-right, manner, and that our country will be able to get back on its feet again. If conservative policies have worked elsewhere, they could work here.
A.J. Collins is a sophomore majoring in political science, economics and math.
