In its 2024 Democracy Scorecard, Common Cause rated federal lawmakers based on their stance regarding pro-democracy bills introduced during the 118th Congress. (Photo/Pexels.com)
The fifth biennial scorecard compiled by Common Cause rated seven of Indiana’s nine U.S. representatives and two U.S. senators as doing little to preserve democracy during the 118th Congress.
Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog, focused on 10 democracy-related bills in the U.S. Senate and 13 in the U.S. House, covering such topics as voting rights, election security, ballot access and ethics reform for the U.S. Supreme Court when rating the federal lawmakers in its 2024 Democracy Scorecard. Then the organization examined the record of every congressional member to determine whether he or she took a “pro-democracy” stance on these issues.
Reps. Frank Mrvan and Andre Carson, Democrats representing the 1st and 7th congressional districts, respectively, were the only members in Indiana’s congressional delegation who achieved near-perfect scores. Carson took a pro-democracy position on 12 of the 13 bills while Mrvan took a pro-democracy position on 11 of the 13 bills, according to the Common Cause scorecard.
However, three Hoosier Republicans – Sens. Mike Braun and Todd Young and Rep. Victoria Spartz, of the 5th Congressional District – rated a zero, Common Cause said, by not taking a pro-democracy stance on any of the legislation.
Pointing to the three federal lawmakers who blanked the scorecard, Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana, said in a press release, “This shows that Hoosiers can’t depend on them to repair the frayed fabric of our democracy. With this year’s pivotal election, we must drive these key reforms to the top of the agenda so everyone can access an accountable government, no matter what state we call home. I encourage all Hoosiers to consider where each federal candidate stands on these issues before casting their ballot.”
The scorecard lands as more voters list the health of the country’s democracy as among their top concerns this election. A Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service Battleground Civility Poll, released in March, found “81% of the respondents stated they believe democracy in America is currently being threatened.” Similarly an Associated Press – NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released in August reported that 6 in 10 adults believe that U.S. democracy could be at risk, depending on who wins the presidential election.
Aaron Dusso, associate professor of political science at Indiana University – Indianapolis, said while voters’ concern about the stability of democracy does not rise to the level of their worries about the economy or frustrations over inflation, “there is a greater sense among the electorate that democracy is, in some ways, at stake” in November.
He highlighted the book, “How Democracies Die,” published in 2018 by Harvard University political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, which focused on democratic health and offered four indicators of a struggling democracy. Viewing the 2024 election through the lens of those indicators – rejection of democratic rules; denial of political opponents’ legitimacy; tolerance of political violence; and willingness to curtail freedoms, particularly of the press – Dusso said the situation in the country is different now than it was in 2016.
The scorecard emphasizes the changing dynamic, Dusso said, by raising questions about what the congressional members believe. Pointing in particular to Braun and Young, Dusso wondered if the two senators “actually believe what they’re essentially voting for or are they just going along because they essentially don’t have the political power or will to buck the Republican Party” on the bills in the Common Cause survey.
“My question is how many people in Congress are true believers?” Dusso said. “Because if they’re true believers in continuing to restrict access to the ballot and essentially tolerating political violence and arguing their political opponents don’t have a right to hold political office, then that’s a big problem.”
Rating Members In A ‘Dsyfunctional’ Congress
The scorecard is rating the members of the 118th Congress, which Common Cause called “one of the most dysfunctional in American history.” Through Aug. 15, 2024, just 78 standalone bills – or 0.5% of all the bills introduced in the 118th Congress – have become law, according to Common Cause. This compares to the 116th and 117th Congresses, in which 2% of the bills introduced became law and the 114th and the 115th Congresses in which 3% of the bills passed to the president’s desk.
In fact, Common Cause asserted that in its first year, the 118th Congress turned in the least-productive first year performance of any Congress in nearly a century.
The 118th Congress also made history in other unenviable ways, Common Cause noted. At the opening of the 118th session, the Republican-majority House of Representatives took an unprecedented four days and 15 votes to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R- California, as speaker, but then ousted him nine months later. In addition, Rep. George Santos, R- New York, was just the sixth member to be expelled from Congress, and Sen. Bob Menendez, D- New Jersey, became the first sitting member of Congress to be charged “with conspiracy by a public official to act as a foreign agent,” Common Cause stated.
A July 2024 Gallup poll found 78% of Americans disapproved of Congress.
However, Common Cause noted the 2024 scorecard spotlighted a positive trend. Members of Congress who compiled perfect scores – taking a pro-democracy stance on all the bills – more than doubled from 2020. Just 58 members had a perfect score on the 2020 scorecard, compared to the 117 members who did so in this year’s scorecard, Common Cause stated.
“Our 2024 Democracy Scorecard shows a surge of support in Congress for reforms that strengthen the right to vote, take back the (U.S.) Supreme Court and break big money’s grip on our politics,” Virginia Kase Solomon, president and CEO of Common Cause, said in a press release.
The scorecards have tracked support and co-sponsorship of what Common Cause considers “key democracy reform legislation.” The green and red marks on this year’s scorecard do not indicate that the representative or senator voted “yes” or “no” on the bill, but rather whether the congressional member’s vote supported democracy.
For example, a lawmaker who voted “yes” on the bill to expel Santos received a green mark. If that same lawmaker also voted “yes” on the bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote, then he or she was given a red mark.
The bills that Common Cause included in the 2024 scorecard included a proposal to cut funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s director of election security initiative, adding a citizenship question on the U.S. Census, blocking funds for a voting executive order, and preventing disinformation and misinformation. Legislation that members could have co-sponsored included the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act.
The other six members of Indiana’s congressional delegation – all Republicans – tallied low scores. Common Cause rated Reps. Rudy Yakym, of Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District; Jim Banks, of the 3rd District; James Baird, of the 4th District; Greg Pence, of the 6th District; and Erin Houchin, of the 9th District, as taking a pro-democracy stance on just one of the 13 bills. Retiring Rep. Larry Bucshson, of the 8th Congressional District, tallied a score of 2 out of 13.
Dusso said voters share some of the responsibility for the abysmal track record of the 118th Congress and the low scores. The politicians, he said, are acting and voting in the way they think their constituents want. If the lawmakers keep getting elected, that would seem to confirm they are following the voters’ wishes.
“It’s probably our fault that this is what’s happening,” Dusso said. “We’re willing to tolerate these types of things and we continue to elect individuals and we continue to elect a Congress that isn’t able to pass bills in any real serious way. And, that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.”
Dwight Adams, an editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He has been a content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and a planner for other papers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
September 12, 2024