Democracy’s an idea that’s been kicking around for thousands of years, an attempt to bring a particular form of order to a chaotic world. criticism of democracy goes all the way back to Plato’s Republic in Ancient Greece of 380 B.C., his thoughts on how to create a good society. Suffice to say, Plato was not a fan of democracy and preferred benevolent dictatorship. Democracy, he believed, would result in the selection of charismatic but poor leaders.
His concern was well-founded; today’s world is filled with political leaders more concerned with themselves and retention of power than creating a good society that works well for everyone else. Nonetheless, the idea of democracy remains the crowning aspiration of modern Western society; advocating for dictatorship is not a winning political strategy.
Democracy, unfortunately, is easy to use against itself, particularly liberal democracy that empowers free speech and protects the ability to attack the foundations of democracy itself. Under the aegis of free speech, court decisions like Citizens United allows the takeover of the political process by wealthy interests and multi-national corporations. This is democracy’s dilemma; it can be used to undermine itself.
But what is democracy? There’s no simple answer. It’s not simply about freedom, which is an intrinsic quality of existence observable as probability and uncertainty at the subatomic quantum level and scales all the way up to human behavior. Majority rule is one of democracy’s tenets, including the right of a majority to elect political leaders. Majority rule by whom, however? The right to vote has not been evenly applied in America; who can and cannot vote remains a matter of contention. If there is any tenet of our democracy that seems central, it’s the idea of equality under the rule of law.
We embrace the idea that all people are created equal. Beyond that admittedly generous idea, the notion of equality breaks down. People embody varying degrees of intelligence, education, capabilities, wealth and conditions; in short, people are not equal in many respects and In our democracy, all votes are equal under the law, even if people are not. But their political decisions are often poor. Terrible leaders are frequently elected by a majority of voters. Plato expected this would happen and its likelihood turned him against democracy.
In the past 10,000 years of human history there has been little in the way of political democracy, and it’s mostly recent. Democracy is inefficient, noisy, contentious, subject to corruption, and can be used against itself to create tyranny. American democracy, a decidedly noble if imperfect effort to create a good society, was brilliantly designed to avoid tyranny by incorporating a written constitution and Bill of Rights but is under constant attack. When recently asked if he needs to uphold the constitution, President Trump answered “I don’t know.”
Democracy doesn’t work unless citizens who vote are properly informed, well educated, and capable of critical thinking. Whether by accident or deliberate strategy, America’s electorate has been “dumbed down” and many of the leaders we elect are not capable of crafting sound policy or law. As a result, American democracy is challenged by spreading ignorance and corruption and our system of government is increasingly criticized as dysfunctional.
It is exactly these conditions that bring about the tyranny of the “strongman.” The failure of democracy and the end of the American Empire? Plato would not be surprised.
