| | Jared Laskin wrote:
I've often thought that the best form of government would be a benevolent dictatorship with me as dicator.
Democracy is ok as long as it's a constitutional democracy where the role and powers of government are clearly defined.
Yeah, well, everytime I see myself as ruler of the world, I get the image of Moe with two fingers under his nose going "Jawohl." It helps keep things in perspective. (:-)
As for "constitutional democracy" ...
The United States of America was founded as a constitional federal republic. It was not intended to be a democracy. After 214 years, many of the institutions of the U.S.A. retain their republican nature. Others have drifted toward democracy, though falling short of it. Justices to the Supreme Court still are nominted by the President. These nominations are still subject to the consent of the Senate, and the justices still serve for life. On the other hand, senators themselves were formerly elected by the state legislatures, but now are elected directly by popular vote.
Democracy is rule by the people. The people themselves directly serve as judges, prosecutors, and defenders. Citizens hold administrative offices. This sounds like the government we have. It is not. In ancient Athens, all citizens participated directly, voting on every matter, including foreign treaties, and declarations of war. Juries consisted of 500 citizens. Any citizen could serve as prosecutor or defender. On the theory that all citizens were equal, in ancient Athens, some officials were chosen by lot. Lifetime terms of office were unknown. A one-year appointment was typical. In ancient Athens, Socrates was charged with impiety and he chose death by hemlock over banishment at an old age. Among the ancient philosophers, Protagoras, Anaxagoras and Aspasia were, like Socrates, charged with impiety before a jury of 500. Examples such as these led Aristotle in his Politics to classify democracy as the perverse form of a constitutional republic.
The dangers in democracy were obvious to the founders of the United States of America. They sought to create a government that was immune to the shifting will of a rabble spurred by a demogogue.
Writing as Publius, Alexander Hamilton pointed out in Federalist Number 58 that a legislative body with a larger number of representatives is more likely to be ruled by a few strong leaders. He cited ancient democracies in which a single orator could incite the passions of the entire citizenry at assembly. In The Federalist Number 10 and Number 14, Madison pointed out that a republic is not a democracy. In Number 10, Madison wrote, "... democracies have ever been spectcles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; have ever been as short as in their lives as violent in their deaths."
In "Textbook of Americanism" Ayn Rand called absolute democracy "a collectivist doctrine." In "How to Read (and Not to Write)" Rand condemned democracy as "a social system in which one's work, one's property, one's mind and one's life are at the mercy of any gang that may muster the vote of the majority at any moment for any purpose."
Is it possible to create a government that is based on the consent of the governed and that does not collapse into mob rule? In other words, what is the connection between the apparent democracy of an 18th century American town meeting and the operation of our modern federal republic? The answer is that every society is comprised of individuals. (In fact, the philosophy of Objectivism denies that "society" exists as an independent entity.) On one hand, if the individuals who live together are committed to the same basic rights, then the specific mechanisms of government are largely irrelevant. On the other hand, in a society of thieves and murderers, no guarantees are possible. The federal constitution was designed to encourage the first case and to prevent the second.
In the context of a town meeting, every individual had the right to "stand up" for what they believed in. Everyone had the right to "stand up and be counted" in the vote. The phrase "stand up" was not accidental. In colonial America, secret ballots were rare. Roll call votes were the norm. One person could afford to "stand up" against the majority opinion. That could only work as long as dissenters did not lose their rights. Taking an unpopular stance might not stop people from grumbling at you as you pass on the street, but it did not allow them to burn down your farm. No law could make that work. It had to derive from each individual taking responsibility for their own beliefs and actions -- and allowing others the same rights.
The Constitution was designed to prevent anonymous gangs from seizing the government. Members of the House of Representatives were elected directly by the people in each congressional district. However, Senators were chosen by state legislatures. The President was chosen by an Electoral College. Each state legislature decided how its electors would be chosen. In the early days, electors sought the privilege as individuals. Gradually, this evolved into slates of electors already committed to a presidential candidate. That process ran parallel to the acceptance of the "Australian" ballot, which was imported to America before 1890. Today, the secret ballot is the only way to vote, even for local elections in the smallest of villages.
The "Australian" or secret ballot is not the cause of America's problems today. However, its widespread adoption in the late 19th century signalled a change. Another change that ran parallel was the way in which an individual acquired fornal eduction. In colonial times, learning took place in the home. Teachers who established their own schools charged directly for their services, each running their own business. As the frontier moved west, settlers raised taxes among themselves to hire teachers for the village as a community. The era of aggressive "public education" began in the 1840s. Among the active proponets was Horace Mann who had traveled in Europe and was impressed with the German methods of education. It is no accident that both the "ABC Song" and "Deutschland Ueber Alles" are Mozart tunes. Rows and columns of passive learners following the orders of an authority who could flog them grew up to be voters. The Consitution was amended.
It seems to be a fact of human nature that the farther removed a person is from the consequences of their actions, the less likely each is to take responsibility for them. Apparently, there are statistically few individuals who perceive the longest and broadest ranges of their beliefs and actions. The direct election of senators, an income tax, and the criminalization of grain alcohol were indistinguishable from moving the presidential inauguration from March to January, the emancipation of slaves, and female suffrage.
It might be neat and tidy to claim that the U.S.A. was once a free nation with a strong federal Constitution and that both were degraded by a series of discrete steps each of which might be reversed. Unfortunately -- or perhaps, fortunately -- life is not like that. In the Shays's Rebellion of 1786, Massachusetts farmers demanded that the government pass a law relieving them of their debts. The Sedition Law of 1798 made it a federal offense to publish any statement bringing the President or Congress "into contempt or disrepute." The fact is that there is no such thing as a perfect government. As the Declaration of Independence says, "governments are instituted among men," and can be no more perfect than any individual can be infallible.
Even if perfect knowledge evades you, you are capable of running your own life. Very likely, you feel that other people are not so adept at knowing what is best for you. Perhaps you think they do not even know what is best for themselves. You might even think that you do know how they should live their lives. Perhaps you do. If so, then whether you feel secure standing up for what you believe in (and offering education to others) depends on whether you are living in a constitutional republic or a democracy.
|
|
