Kennedy School: We Can’t Remain Nonpartisan (As if They Were)

We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

Did you know that Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government was “nonpartisan?”

I sure didn’t. I knew that they pretended they were, and gave cover to liberals and some moderates who wanted to use a “nonpartisan” platform to present themselves as nonpartisan “experts” who could be trusted because they were beyond politics. 

But I never really imagined that The Kennedy School was anything but a liberal bastion and a credentialing organization for the transnationalists. 

I am a Republican. I count many, many Democrats as partners in solving problems. I do not believe party determines patriotism. I seem rare only because our political system wants me to be. And so I disagree respectfully—barely respectfully—with this. https://t.co/kyEtBa0sdA

— Chris Deaton (@deaton_chris) November 8, 2024

With the election of Donald Trump to a second term, President of the Kennedy School Institute of Politics, Pratyush Mallick has come out of the political closet and declared himself to be anti-Republican. 

On Tuesday, America made a choice. But nearly 70 million Americans did not vote for election denialism, violence against their compatriots, or the elimination of basic human rights.

Today, Harvard’s Institute of Politics has a choice to make too. Nonpartisanship — a founding principle of the IOP — is no longer a tenable position in today’s political environment. Donald Trump’s imminent return to power underscores the importance of the IOP finally breaking from our long-standing commitment to it.

As this incoming administration charts its course, we must resist platforming anti-democratic voices in the guise of nonpartisanship. In fact, we must strive to defend principles of democracy, due process, and justice precisely to ensure that we can continue carrying out our age-old mission of nonpartisanship.

You have to love that last sentence I quoted. In order to remain nonpartisan, we must go on a Jihad against Republicans. 

Yep. Sounds about right. The Institute of Politics, you see, is on a mission from God and has donned a suicide vest to blow up its hard-earned, if undeserved, reputation as an institution where Republicans and Democrats can talk and find solutions together. 

I would note, for the record, that if finding solutions to problems were its real mission, it sucks at it. Look around folks. Harvard is the Mount Doom of Sauron’s territory. 

When democracy itself is under attack, nonpartisanship is not the hill to die on. And it certainly should not be used as an excuse to platform election deniers and those who seek to dismantle our democracy. People and rhetoric that enable violent, authoritarian, and oppressive governance have no place at an institute for civil political disagreement like the IOP.

On election night, with his unfounded claims of “massive cheating” in Pennsylvania, Trump once again signaled his interest in the erosion of American democracy. In stark contrast, the very next day Vice President Kamala Harris conceded electoral defeat, demonstrating a commitment to the peaceful transition of power.

The essence of democracy lies not just in constituents casting votes but also in candidates respecting the results of these votes. The IOP cannot ignore the reality that, as it stands, one party’s leadership actively betrays these democratic processes. True bipartisanship — and healthy nonpartisanship — is only possible when both sides of the aisle share a basic commitment to our country’s norms. Trump and his supporters have demonstrated that such a commitment can no longer be assumed.

I have news for you. A judge agreed with Trump that Democrats were trying to deny voting rights to Republicans and that Democrats were trying to keep Republican election watchers out of voting locations. You may not call that cheating, but I do. 

Election night felt like the culmination of my time at the IOP. It was a night when our Harvard community came together to show our shared respect for the democratic process. And yet, even as I worked to create a watch party that balanced the perspectives of Democrats, Republicans, and everyone in between, it became clear that democracy itself was being dismantled at the ballot box.

The IOP is a civic institution. We must do more than merely observe democracy; we must defend and champion it when it is under attack. We have to be active participants in its defense and set an example as stewards of civic responsibility. Trump’s Republican party has forced a reckoning: Institutions must decide if they will be complicit as democracy is threatened or take a stand against these threats.

Shortened version: the voters failed us, as they moved dramatically rightward and rejected the elite’s vision of a technocratic America. 

So the elites are throwing a tantrum.