The Democratic Idealogy

             Over one hundred years ago Alexis de Tocqueville expressed what would become the American standard when he observed "Americans were born equal without having to become so." This ideology is also known of as the "democratic wish": the participation of a united people pursuing a shared communal interest. In modern-day America people do not always believe that this ideal is upheld and some think it unrealistic. I will examine this perspective by focusing on thoughts of authorities on the subject of democracy and a political-science graduate student.

             Many people think that nations are either democratic or not - like a light switch that can only be on or off. There are different levels, like a dimmer switch. According to the writer of The Democratic Wish, James A. Monroe, these levels can be defined as "direct democracy"; power of the people without direct representation, "indirect democracy"; power of the people where there is an elect public representation, and "anarchism"; a society so democratic there is no need for authority. He concludes that Americans fear public power as a threat to liberty. Their government is weak and fragmented, designed to prevent action more easily to produce it. In the recurring quest for the people, Americans redesign the political institution and rewrite political rules. According to political scientist Michael Nelson a great irony propels American political development: the search for a more direct democracy builds up the bureaucracy; a form of government where the elected officials follow rules blindly or without thinking. .

             Monroe believes that the fear of public power has been perpetuated ever since the first American constitutions avoided ministerial power altogether. But early democracy does not have a clean record of equality. The founding fathers realized that if a government couldn't oppress people directly, it could still take political dissidents' property from them.

Related Essays: