Protest by ballot
Endangered democracy
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“All of us who are even somewhat familiar with day-to-day politics in America know that the President of the United States, whom all of us greatly revere, would never even think of interpreting these laws in a purely personal way. But what guarantees do we have that a successor won't read them that way?”
New York
The fact that they had eluded the dangers of Nazism didn’t mean that it was time for immigrants to let down their guard. The editorial of the November issue of Aufbau exhorted the newcomers to acquire knowledge about the workings of American politics in order to be able to prevent developments similar to those that had brought the present government to power in Germany. In particular, the author warns against the curtailment of rights by “constitutional” means. The most potent protest against attempts to undermine democracy, in his opinion, was “protest by ballot.” Only those candidates who stood for true Americanism, as he saw it—for peace and justice, or, in other words, for democracy—deserved to be elected.
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SOURCE
Institution:
Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin
Collection:
"Die ernste Pflicht des Wählens" Editorial, Aufbau, Vol. 4, No. 12, p. 5
