There’s Only One Way to Depoliticize

“Everything’s too politicized.” The sentiment is so common as to be cliché. In fact—and ironically—it’s a complaint that unites people across political divides. In recent years, surveys have shown that more than 60 percent of respondents think the Supreme Court is “too politicized”; 80 percent think the military is; and 90 percent think education is. But it’s almost certain that a much lower percentage would support the only surefire cure for the problem: the retreat of government.

To “politicize” an issue means to make it political. Political, in common usage, means of or relating to government. In other words, if government is involved, then the issue is political. Or, to put it another way: to involve government in an issue is to politicize the issue. To expect a matter to somehow be at once managed by government and at the same time nonpolitical is to indulge in utopianism.

Realism thus requires that we accept a certain amount of “politicization” (politics would be the more straightforward term) as a fact of life. Government is properly involved to some degree (or varying degrees) in national defense, immigration, commerce, and public health and safety. These areas will be subject to legal measures enacted by legislatures and enforced by administrations, and they will therefore be the topics of public debate and controversy (which is the negative connotation many intend when they use the word politicize.) There is no avoiding the messiness that results from the working out of differences in a society that is at once pluralistic and committed to the rule of law. There will be winners and there will be losers in the zero-sum game that is politics.

But this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a valid dissatisfaction at the base of the complaint regarding politicization. American society is too politicized, which does not mean it’s too diverse or too argumentative. It means that too many details of our lives have come under the purview of politics. That is, government does too much.

Education is politicized because schools use tax dollars to operate, because state and federal aid suffuses the higher education system, because the tax code includes various benefits to promote education, because laws dictate compulsory education for youngsters, and because the state enforces rules concerning who can educate, what constitutes a degree, and what kind of licensing is necessary to enter various fields and professions.

Housing is politicized because zoning regulations dictate building types, because building codes regulate construction practices, because home insurance is highly regulated, and because the lending market is heavily influenced by government subsidy and regulation.

Family life is politicized because a high proportion of families end up in court for divorce and custody proceedings, because the tax code favors and penalizes numerous family-related arrangements (marriage, childbearing and adoption, child care, etc.), because non-discrimination law includes discrimination on the basis of sex and so government must determine what that means and to whom it applies, and because child protection laws entail many interpretations concerning what constitutes child abuse and negligence and how they should be dealt with.

We could expand the list indefinitely: business, agriculture, arts and culture, transportation, the natural environment. Government touches all these areas, and usually the touch is not light.

Government cannot completely pull out of all these fields, and most people would oppose its attempting to do so. But the extent of government involvement in the granular details of life is excessive. Environmental regulation, the scope and complexity of taxation, and federal involvement in education are examples of areas where government’s presence can and should be scaled back. If we didn’t bump up against a law or regulation every time we wanted to build, sell, or say something, then we could reestablish a portion of life—including public life—that is not subject to government and therefore not automatically politicized.

This change of direction requires certain commitments on the part of citizens: more self-reliance; more recourse to families, neighbors, and private organizations rather than government as resources in time of need or crisis; more social interaction that attempts to work out differences without resorting to the formal procedures of the law. If we can do these things, then there is hope for the cause of depoliticizing American life. If we continue to demand government solutions to every problem and political answers to every question, then politicization is here to stay.