Can America Become a Democracy?

At a time when it is easy to be pessimistic about the abilities of voters to make reasonable decisions, Nwanevu repels. Democracy is a good system, he insists. It is the definition of the concept of Lincoln – “the government of people, people, for people” – this most concisely reflects his desire. Democracy is more freer, happier and, as a rule, richer than other countries. They give their citizens a set of procedures for peaceful management of social conflicts. They have the potential to be dynamic and responsive; Autocracies have much fewer incentives to behave in the ways that serve the public.

Some of the advantages of democracy come from its consequences, and not just its results. Many important rights are necessary for democratic self -government. There should be a certain degree of equality shared by all citizens. The pore functions of democracy cannot work without free press and freedom of speech. Nvanev is unlikely to be a star eye about democratic systems. Of course, he knows that the circle of those who were included as full participants has expanded over time. He knows that voting is an imperfect measure of most preferences, and that many voters do not know. “Democracy is not about A will people who won in this collective decision, ”he writes.“ This is about Right People who can control themselves through collective decision -making in the first place. ” He recognizes how Astra Taylor ArgumentThis is “the ideal of self -government … occupies a distant and retreating horizon, which we must continue to achieve, but could not understand.” But, according to Nvanev, we should not restrain dissatisfaction with our system from the idea of ​​democracy from his second statement: “America is actually not a democracy.”

This part of the argument to Nvanev, unlike the first, is much easier to accept than it would be a few years ago. But Nvanev does not just mean that we talk about what political scientists call competitive authoritarianism: he means that the United States never corresponded to the definition. “The American people are not equal as political objects,” he says. Our political system does not really react to the majority, which gives too many veto -microns that can be used aggravated by economic inequality. He admits that no democratic societies can comply with its high standards. But, notes Nvanev, US democracy “falls much further from ideal than the government of our peers … calling them democracies, a person does not subject this concept as much abuse.”

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