In the midst of the current US government shutdown, both sides of politics have seemingly forgotten that the founding document on the nation was born in compromise. EPA/Shawn Thew

by Timothy J. Lynch | Associate Professor in Political Science at University of Melbourne | The Conversation

“How worried should we be that the government of the world’s largest economy, military, and democracy has shut down? Let me suggest two responses: 1) worried and 2) reassured.

“Reasons to be worried

“Compromise is the art of democratic politics. Governments that can’t do it are either tyrannies or dysfunctional.

“The capacity for compromise was a hallmark of the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia (May-September 1787). Small states, like Rhode Island, were concerned the new system would institutionalise large state power. New York would get to call the shots.

“The impasse almost prevented the United States’ birth. The solution was the first great compromise in American history. In the Senate, small states got the same amount of power as the large: New York and Rhode Island both got two senators each. Large states, though they had to cede power in the Senate, got the loudest voice in the House. States have representatives proportional to their populations.

“The US Constitution was thus born in compromise. It is a fact that both sides, particularly Republicans (though Obama will hardly go down in history as the compromiser-in-chief), seem determined to forget. Instead, rigidity of position is privileged over flexibility. Ideological purity is prized more highly than empathy with opponents.”

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