Posted on: Tuesday, November 19, 2002

ISLAND VOICES
Two-party system welcome

By Marie E. Gryphon

Those of us who grew up in Hawai'i in the 1970s and '80s watched our governorship pass seamlessly from one establishment Democrat to another in the machine politics version of royal succession.

Gov. George Ariyoshi was succeeded by his lieutenant governor, John Waihee. Waihee was then succeeded by his lieutenant governor, Ben Cayetano. It was easy for our generation to assume that politics was supposed to work this way.

But it's been a while since Hawai'i's government has had its house in order. In the decade since the Japanese investment bubble burst, the state has lurched from one crisis to another, hamstrung by dated fiscal policies. Political corruption has embarrassed the state nationally, and Hawai'i's public schools rank among the worst in the nation.

In response to all this, Hawai'i's voters have made a wise choice. They have brought competition to state politics.

The Cato Institute's John Samples notes that fewer congressional races now offer genuine inter-party competition, resulting in a bloated and inefficient federal government. Surely the same can be said of state government when one party holds a monopoly in political clout. Hawai'i has suffered just these consequences.

But Hawai'i's political landscape is changing. When state Sen. Sam Slom was a freshman in 1996, he flipped a coin with the only other Senate Republican to determine who would serve as minority leader. Now, Republicans boast a growing caucus in the 25-member Senate, having increased their numbers in the recent election from three to five. While they lost four seats in the state House, Republicans will still hold 15 seats there.

Hawai'i's establishment politicos knew residents' rebellion against one-party politics was serious when Republican Linda Lingle almost stole the governorship from Cayetano in 1998. This year, Lingle earned her place as a symbol of the new independence of the Hawai'i voter. She became the first non-Democrat elected to Hawai'i's top job in 40 years.

The media often point out that Lingle doesn't typify Mainland-style conservatism. Her views on most issues, considered fractious elsewhere, such as school choice and abortion, are almost indistinguishable from those of her erstwhile opponents. But bipartisan consensus on these issues doesn't minimize Lingle's accomplishment. Decades of single-party dominance have left Hawai'i's government struggling with the basics.

For example, a strong challenge from Lingle persuaded Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono to promise to end Hawai'i's traditional practice of tieing state contracts to companies that make political campaign contributions. Such naked partisan payoffs have been prohibited elsewhere for decades. Only an airtight political machine could have prevented such a sensible reform for so long.

Lingle will have a lot on her hands when she takes office in December, but so will the Legislature. Her arrival will produce a novelty in Hawai'i — divided government. This is not a bad thing. Even Gov. Cayetano has remarked that the new government should have more effective checks and balances than in the past.

While Lingle has a record of effective coalition building as mayor of Maui, her chief contribution will not be cooperation, but deliberation. Hawai'i residents will finally benefit from an open, multiparty dialogue about how best to tackle the state's persistent trouble spots, from fiscal policy to education. Hawai'i's voters have demanded a more competitive political system, and Hawai'i's future looks brighter than it has in many years.

Marie E. Gryphon is a policy analyst with the Cato Institute. She was born and raised in Honolulu and is a 1991 graduate of Punahou School.