What does it mean to be a Republican? In a hyperpartisan democracy, the political landscape of the United States grows more divided by the day. How will partisan politics contribute to the detriment of the future of the United States’ democratic system of government? 

Former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen probed this issue in her talk at the Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service at UC Berkeley. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen served from 1989 to 2019, representing districts in south Florida as the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress. During her service, she served on several committees and commissions, most notably as Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011 to 2013. Grounding her political platform in her identity and experiences as a Cuban-American, she committed her career to the pursuits of advancing freedom and democracy, free trade, imposing sanctions on human rights violators, and fighting tyranny and oppression across the globe. 

As the twelfth Matsui lecturer, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen was invited to speak in recognition of her dedication to bipartisanship and fostering engagement and dialogue in her political practice throughout her career as a Republican US Representative of Florida.

Once voted “Most Bipartisan Republican,” the former Congresswoman raised concerns in her lecture about the state of democracy in the current political climate of the United States. She emphasized the necessity of working toward overarching goals rather than affirming specific ideologies. While it may be easier to stay within party lines and collaborate only with predetermined co-conspirators, Ros-Lehtinen affirmed that bipartisanship has the potential to achieve social justice in the name of unity: bipartisan policies in some cases align more closely with constituents’ values than policies supported by a single political party.

Ros-Lehtinen also pointed to a deterioration of “Republican values.” She emphasized her understanding of Republican values as based in a pro-United States stance, with strong beliefs in the entrepreneurial spirit of our nation, defending the importance of homeownership, education, business, and more “values we all have as Americans.” According to Ros-Lehtinen, elected officials must actively participate in the improvement of our nation rather than dedicate their efforts to tearing down their political adversaries. 

It is difficult not to be critical of the controversial nature of these positions. Listening to Ros-Lehtinen’s criticism, it is difficult not to question what, exactly, partisan politics entails and how it benefits our political democracy. What does it mean for a candidate or policy to be partisan? The political spectrum is much more than right/left and Republican/Democrat, so what is the merit of assigning descriptors that only increase society's perceived polarity? Shouldn’t voters hope to feel represented by their elected officials and confident that their values align? What Ros-Lehtinen’s lecture suggests is that voters should elect representatives not because they are registered under the same party, but because of shared values. Yet, as Ros-Lehtinen discussed, polls indicate that many Americans have lost faith in the institutions that govern the country. In her view, many feel that the government doesn't relate to them and is not improving their lives. “Bipartisanship and civility are just words now,” she said. If politicians appear to be bipartisan, they are accused of failing to represent their values or constituents. The counterintuitive logic behind these claims suggests that the polarized climate of American politics is at fault for the dying faith in politics. Compromise is no longer seen as a marker of progress or civility, but rather a weakness: accommodation and acquiescence are losses that must be avoided instead of victories towards a common goal. 

Ros-Lehtinen said it makes one a better member of Congress to vote, not for one's party, but for the “better angels of your nature.” If this cannot be achieved under the conventions we have come to associate with American politics, why must we continue to operate under them at all?

The first United States president, George Washington, was vocally anti-partisan. In his farewell address, he even went so far as to warn his successors about the threat that hyperpartisanship would pose to the future of American democracy, saying that it would be responsible for the “ruins of public liberty.” Ros-Lehtinen used the term “common-sense Republicans” in her lecture, but the very existence of the term, which implies that there are Republicans who operate without common sense, is troubling. Regardless of whether a United States politician identifies as Republican, Democrat, or otherwise, perhaps it should be a shared common sense that motivates politicians, based on the notion that a representative government might do well to represent the needs and values of its constituents.