As in so many instances in Albany, basic, fundamental democratic processes are frustrated by political agendas and needless dysfunction. This unfortunate reality is again playing out as Judge Hector LaSalle, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s choice to lead the Court of Appeals, was summarily dismissed as a candidate, despite enormous support from lawmakers and legal experts across the board, simply because he doesn’t check enough boxes for radicals in New York’s Democrat Party. 

 [Recently], Judge LaSalle was forced to endure an hours-long Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with an outcome decided before he even sat down to answer a single question. Weeks before the hearing, several senators had already publicly stated they would not support Judge LaSalle before speaking with him, interviewing him, or hosting a nomination hearing. LaSalle deserved an objective and fair process but was instead forced to participate in a political sideshow.

 After Judge LaSalle’s nomination was announced, Senate Democrats arbitrarily changed the composition of the Judiciary Committee. What had been a 15-member committee was expanded to 19 members, allowing for more LaSalle opponents to be added. Essentially, the deck was stacked against him before he had a chance to discuss his career, accomplishments, and judicial decisions. The chief judge of the Court of Appeals is an important position at the top of the judicial branch of our state government. The nominee is not a political pawn, nor should the vote to confirm such a nominee be used to advance a particular agenda. The nominee should be judged on his or her merits — nothing else.

 The future of Judge LaSalle’s nomination is now uncertain. Gov. Hochul has stated that she is exploring options, which includes the possibility of taking legal action against the Senate majority. Without question, what happens next will be a significant moment for state government and the direction in which New York is headed.

The decision to obstruct Judge LaSalle’s nomination is a textbook example of the one-party dysfunction that has hindered New York. Judge LaSalle has earned a reputation as a fair, effective jurist. His distinguished career earned him the nomination and the hearing. It is a shame a small faction in the Senate majority has ignored his qualifications while it continues to pull New York further from rational, reasonable policy.

 The people of New York deserve a government that works, and what we are seeing here is evidence some lawmakers are more concerned with making a statement than making New York a better, safer place. Mainline New York Democrats must look in the mirror and ask themselves what is more important, picking the best candidate for the job or letting their party continue to be highjacked by woke extremists.        

William (Will) A. Barclay, 53, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses all of Oswego County, as well as parts of Jefferson and Cayuga counties.

Like many Americans, I watched with dismay [in early January] as the U.S. House of Representatives struggled through 15 votes over four days to select a new speaker. The sense of dysfunction was remarkable. Anyone watching might well have wondered about our ability to govern ourselves.

For a week, there was no speaker to call the House to order. Elected members couldn’t take the oath of office and start conducting business. One house of the Congress was effectively AWOL. Finally, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R–California, secured enough votes to become Speaker of the House. But the chaos and divisions do not bode well for his leadership.

I served in the House for 34 years, and I never witnessed anything like this. In fact, it had been 100 years since the House majority took more than one vote to select a speaker. The last time it took more than 15 votes was in 1859, when Congress and America were bitterly divided on the eve of the Civil War.

Reportedly, McCarthy won only after granting concessions to hard-right conservatives who demanded rules changes and committee assignments to amplify their power. That’s a dangerous posture for our system of government, when an extreme minority can effectively dictate terms to the majority.

It also makes it less likely the House will compromise with the Democratic-controlled Senate to pass legislation. Government shutdowns may be looming when must-pass spending bills come due. It may be difficult, later this year, for Congress to raise the federal debt limit and prevent a default on U.S. financial obligations.

It would be bad enough if the deadlock over House leadership were the only sign that our democracy is fragile, but it’s not. There’s also the fact that Trump refused to recognize the results of the 2020 election, and that many Americans still believe that it was rigged.

These blows to our system accumulate. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit annual democracy index, the United States has been a “flawed democracy,” not a full democracy, for several years. It cites Trump’s election denial, the nation’s “extremely low levels of trust in institutions and political parties,” and “deep dysfunction in the functioning of government” as reasons for the mediocre rating.

Some of this reflects the politics of the day. We Americans have become increasingly partisan and suspicious of each other. Republicans and Democrats seem to inhabit different universes. Gerrymandered election districts and partisan media outlets have pushed elected officials to the extremes. 

Today, an occasional display of bipartisanship can seem almost poignant, as when Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell traveled to Kentucky this month to celebrate infrastructure funding.

Partisanship isn’t always bad, of course. In our two-party system, it’s part of how government works. But it can be overdone to the point where it brings the whole enterprise to a halt. Political parties should compete for power but compromise when needed for the good of the nation.

We Americans are deeply fortunate. Our nation’s founders devised a system of government that has served us well for more than 200 years. But it isn’t written in the stars that the U.S. will always prosper, or even exist as a democratic republic. Maintaining a functioning democracy is a big challenge, and it’s up to all of us to ensure our representatives perform their job seriously and make the system work.       

Lee Hamilton, 91, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south-central Indiana.