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TODAY Friday 19 September 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: "Here, Sir, the People Rule"

Or so Alexander Hamilton is reputed to have said, not proudly, when showing to an English visitor the chamber of the House of Representatives in the new capitol building in Washington City. He preferred the Senate, designed as the more aristocratic of the two houses, with long terms and indirect elections. In the liberal post-World War II consensus historiography in which early boomers were educated, Hamilton was applauded for his nationalism but scolded for his fear of the mob; American history was described as an erratic but irresistible tendency to expand the franchise and democratize governance and culture.

Others weren't so sure. Joseph Schumpeter famously described modern democracy as the competition between various elites for the allegiance of the people. In typical American fashion, we seem to be comfortable enough believing two contradictory explanations of how things work politically, both the uplifting version where the people rule and the cold-eyed version where the powerful and influential manipulate a somnambulant public.

Whatever role you assign to public opinion, you can't say it's not influential, even if only in the narrow sense of informing intelligently manipulative mass communications. The results of polls and focus groups are never far from the reach of successful national leaders these days, and the deft ones can play them like a drum. Tony Blair seems especially gifted. Bill Clinton is a master.

This morning's Wall Street Journal carries an eight-page insert summarizing and analyzing the most recent WSJ/NBC News Poll. Two thousand representative Americans were prodded and probed for their attitudes towards public issues and personalities. The big news is economic satisfaction. At levels we haven't seen in a quarter-century (nearly two-thirds of those polled), people are pleased with the general health of the economy. They are also more at ease with the particular work they perform within it. In 1984, 20% of the respondents to a comparable survey said they were dissatisfied with their jobs; today it's only 4%.

When voters aren't worked up about the economy, they tend to be indulgent with whomever's in power. The President basks in a 62% approval rating and no one seems to be able to work up a head of steam against the Republican Congress. And the relatively lack of economic anxiety also means that hitherto second-rank concerns can come to the fore. "Environment, School and Health Issues Capture Imagination of American Voters," reads the big headline over Jackie Calmes' analysis. What's the big issue these days in DC?, she asks rhetorically. EPA regulations!

The Clinton Administration's proposals for new Clean Air Act standards, reports Ms. Calmes, "has come to be a defining [issue] for competing GOP factions. The most conservative Republicans are pushing in Congress to delay the regulations, arguing privately that such pro-business defiance is essential to fire up the party's base. But party moderates oppose delay, warning of a potential pro-environment backlash among Republicans in critical suburban districts." The reason for all this elephant-party angst is that more voters think Democrats do a better job of protecting the environment than Republicans do, 51% to 12% (on the economy, Republicans are favored 34% to 25%).

So the more the economy booms, the more important the environment becomes as a political issue. By "the environment," of course, we mean protection of nature and people's health from toxicity and pollution, exactly the framework of the debate over the new EPA regulations. One big question is whether concern over "the environment" can translate into concern over the loss and disturbance of natural systems -- climate change, species extinctions -- that ironically, unfortunately, maybe tragically, are only made worse during periods of economic expansion.

 

TODAY ON THE SITE:

Keep your eye on the High Fives. We've asked each of our seventy-odd authors to check their recommended URLs, look at their fields afresh, and make appropriate additions and deletions. Starting today, you can look for our snappy "NEW!" icon to spot the updated and rejuvenated entries.

 

Recent "Today" columns:

9/18: Dr. Pangloss and the Land Mine Treaty
9/17: Outsourcing Pollution
9/16: In the Preservation of the Funky
9/15: The Problem With Health
9/12: The Automobile Crisis of 2020
9/11: Gratifyingly Inept Adversary
9/10: The Porkbarrel Works for You
9/09: Climate Change Changes
9/08: More or Less Voluntary Simplicity
9/05: Man Bites Cougar

To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.