Sean Kershaw's Weblog
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April 1, 2011
Predictions from the Past
I wrote this in 2005. I'd write it differently now, but I find it interesting in light of current realities. It must have been written in the midst of the last crisis/standoff.
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This standoff could change the face of state government //
Don't be surprised if Minnesota's shutdown of 2005 leads to long-term damage and to a new political and civic reality.
Sean Kershaw
Star Tribune. Publication Date: July 6, 2005 Page: 15A Section: NEWS Edition: METRO
Friday, July 1: When I returned home today my 5-year-old son was hard at work on a mysterious Lego structure. He asked me if I would help him "make the Capitol building." I was stunned by his timing, did my best at constructing one, and told him that the real Capitol needed some fixing too.
Afterwards I sat down to construct this essay. I just hope it becomes part of a history book - not a fairy tale.
July, 2020
For political and civic life in Minnesota, 2005 was clearly a turning point.
Cracks in the political foundation began to appear in the 1980s and `90s, as party caucus participation plummeted and political endorsements became meaningless. The foundation shifted, for a while, when Jesse Ventura won the governor's race in 1998. But Ventura's unwillingness to build a political base, and the DFL and Republican parties' generous application of whitewash to their own problems, simply delayed the inevitable.
In 2005, despite many promises and months to reach a solution, the governor and Legislature failed to reach a budget solution and state government shut down. While the shutdown soon ended, the long-term damage was done. The existing structure began to unwind - and a new political and civic reality began to come together.
In retrospect, three relatively simple factors contributed to the political and civic transformation we now call the "North Star Solution."
Political transformations
For the DFL, the big meltdown came in 2007. The scandals and anger surrounding the over commitments and under-funding of state-regulated pension programs forced the DFL to choose between absolute loyalty to public sector unions and absolute loyalty to the overall public good. By developing innovative ideas and an interest in implementing them, the DFL became "progressive" again.
For the Republicans, the fatal error was the anti-gay-marriage amendment in 2006. Despite huge polling advantages just a year earlier, on the heels of the 2005 shutdown Minnesotans were much more interested in addressing education, health care and transportation, not waging bitter cultural battles.
Large numbers of Republicans voted with the DFL and Independence parties. But by eventually returning to their roots - focusing on common-sense moral values, and on fiscal and family stability - Minnesota's Republicans eventually became "conservative" again.
Policy innovations
The most underreported issue of the 2005 crisis was the fact that political leaders were stuck with real policy challenges that required new solutions and bold civic innovations. Traditional cut-or-spend approaches wouldn't address the issues (in education, transportation or health care) or balance the books. Leaders were blamed for problems they inherited, and which they never had the capacity to solve on their own.
The retirement of the baby boomers forced policy leaders to transform the health care and long-term-care systems. Competition from the new Sino-India Economic Axis caused leaders in every community to become serious about improving education outcomes for all Minnesotans - at all stages of their lives. The arrival of 1 million new residents brought about world-class innovations in transportation.
"Govern or Get Out."
This slogan from a 2006 rally protesting the deadlock on a transportation bonding bill summed up the public mood in this key election year. As one commentator said at the time, "Maybe the children of the Greatest Generation simply can't govern. They can raise the barricades but they can't take them down."
But the inability of elected leadership to govern was a reflection of governance problems everywhere. Corporations, schools, nonprofits and all types of organizations were struggling
with their own governance dysfunctions.
The young leaders who started charter schools, nonprofits and technology companies in the 1990s soon became elected leaders and CEOs of major business, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. The legislative leadership of the new "2020 Caucus," which emerged in 2005 and became a political force in 2007, joined forces with this new generation of leaders. They organized around an agenda of new leadership development, innovative public policy solutions and good governance in all institutions.
The outcome of this work is clear - in the continued quality of life and economic success of Minnesota's democracy. But the lessons remain. The crisis of 2005 wasn't about gays, or gambling, or more or less government. It was about governing for the common good, the guts required to do so in every institution, and the payoff for future generations of Minnesotans.
Sean Kershaw is president of the Citizens League.
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Posted by Sean Kershaw at April 1, 2011 10:37 AM