The U.S. Supreme Court is supposed to be the solution to gridlock. But as the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia makes painfully apparent, gridlock is now overtaking the court.
When the political system threatens to break down in gridlock — as it did during the recount following the 2000 presidential election — the Supreme Court intervenes to resolve the issue. Many Americans disagreed with the 5-to-4 ruling that made George W. Bush the president. Miraculously, though, there were no mass protests, no riots, no violence. The U.S. Constitution is sovereign, and the Supreme Court is accepted as its voice.
Separation of powers in the United States is supposed to foster compromise and deal-making. But tea party Republicans reject compromise and deal-making as unprincipled. So we end up with stalemate on issue after issue. The Supreme Court has to break the stalemate — sometimes in favor of liberals (same-sex marriage, Obamacare) and sometimes in favor of conservatives (campaign finance, climate change). Often the vote has been by the closest possible margin: 5 to 4. Without Scalia, the court splits 4 to 4.