The Evolution of Democracy
By: A fellow U.S. citizen, R.M.L.
Published: February 22, 2019
LAUS DEO
FOREWORD
Make no mistake, the true intent of this writing is to spark a political
REVOLUTION…
But if nothing else, hopefully it will start a
CONVERSATION.
DEMOCRACY (according to Merriam Webster)
noun | de • moc • ra • cy | \di-`mä-krə-sē\
1(a): government by the people; especially: rule of the majority
REPUBLIC (according to Merriam Webster)
noun | re·pub·lic |\ri-ˈpə-blik\
1(b): a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law
After reading these definitions, compare them to our current form of government and ask yourself…
Do you feel like the American people hold the supreme power in our nation?
In what ways are our elected officials held responsible to us, the people who vote for them?
Does it even matter what a majority of Americans stand for, when our system of government is controlled by political parties and financed by lobbyists?
Chapter 1
A DOSE OF PERSPECTIVE
As children, we are all taught that the roots of our nation grew out of a revolt by 13 colonies against a tyrannical British monarchy. At the heart of this rebellion was a desire for equality, freedom, and self-determination. Even now, more than 240 years since it was first written, the famous words of the Declaration of Independence describe what most of us believe the “American” experience is, or at least what we think it should be…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Unfortunately, the sad reality is that when it comes to our government, there are many in power who don’t believe in the simple principle of equality announced in this quote. In fact, history tells us that the founding fathers didn’t truly believe in it either when it was first written, or at least not all of them. As we know, when they said that all “men” are created equal, they literally meant men only, and just the white ones at that. But through a civil war, suffrage efforts, a civil rights movement, and the ongoing struggles of the many who continue to push for equality, we find evidence of fellow Americans coming together to fight for what is inherently right and just. These evolutions of America, as memorialized through Amendments to our Constitution and landmark Supreme Court decisions, were not reached, however, without great sacrifice and extreme dedication by those devoted to their causes, who forced change upon the status quo. In their victories, we see that equality and justice can win out over racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression, but why has it been so difficult? Why are injustices tolerated for so long before they are remedied?
Perhaps some insight may be found by examining the setting in which our current system of government was formed. According to the first census conducted in 1790, taken three years after the Constitutional Convention, the total recorded population of the country was roughly 3.9 million persons. Of this total, over 1.5 million were free women, and nearly 700,000 were slaves. It’s quite an interesting footnote to our history that, when combined, over 57% of the counted inhabitants of this nation, a clear majority, had zero rights with respect to the government when it was formed. It’s even more astonishing to think that the true percentage is actually even higher than that, when you consider the estimated 600,000 or more indigenous persons of the Native American tribes who were not counted in the census.
The largest city populations back in 1790 were New York at 33,131, Philadelphia at 28,522, and Boston at 18,320, with Virginia coming in as the most populous state overall (747,610). Aside from Massachusetts, public education was non-existent in the states. While most of the population was literate, thanks in large part to the Bible, formal education was essentially reserved for the wealthy and the elite. Communication between the states and their citizens was often a long and difficult process, due to the wide disbursement of a primarily rural population, and no other means of communication beyond the written word and in-person conversation. It was a time before television, radio, the telephone, or even the telegraph had been invented.
For comparison’s sake, the last official census in 2010 put our population at nearly 309 million people, a figure nearly 100 times greater than 1790. The top 3 city populations in the last census were New York at 8,175,133, Los Angeles at 3,792,821, and Chicago at 2,695,598, with California checking in as the top State overall (33,871,648). All 50 of the States now maintain formal public education systems, and rather successfully at that, with 88% percent of American adults holding a high school diploma or GED, according to 2015 education attainment data. As for higher education, according to the same 2015 data, 59% of Americans reported completing at least some college, and 33% overall have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
As stark of a contrast as the population and education statistics reveal, our present modes of communication and the speed at which information travels might as well have been from another planet when compared to the early years of our nation. What once took days, weeks, or even months, now takes but a few seconds or minutes. In the specific context of communication, it’s plain to see that a governmental system developed in the late 1700s had to rely on individual persons to represent the views of the many, simply out of necessity. But when viewed through the lens of our current technological capabilities, it suddenly seems far less appropriate for our present place in time.
There are many Americans, including perhaps even you, who may view the longevity of the American form of government as evidence of its success, and as a reason for why it should forever stay unchanged. After all, it has lasted well over 200 years, and for most of our history, we’ve enjoyed our place at the front of the line, as leader of the free world. But before we pay the strictest of reverence to history, consider the fact that so much of the success of our nation has come from our ingenuity. We have a knack for solving problems, imagining ideas into life, always improving, and never settling for good enough. The airplane, the automobile, the telephone, the personal computer. The list of what Americans have contributed to the world, including our form of democracy, goes on and on. So why wouldn’t we look to continue to improve upon something as important as our government?
If we take a realistic look at the birth of our federal government, we see that it was the end result of debates held by 55 white men, most of whom were wealthy landowners, and many of whom owned slaves. While there were certainly those in the room who solemnly felt the weight of their undertaking, and appreciated the importance of including the people in the process of government, it’s also very clear through the historical records, that there were those who placed significantly far less value on the ideals of democracy.
According to the journal kept by James Madison, on May 31, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention debated the question of whether the members of first branch of the National Legislature (now the House of Representatives) should be elected by the people. Seems like it should be a no brainer, right? Well, not exactly, as it was a closer vote than many would imagine, with 6 States voting in favor, 2 voting against, and 2 left undecided due to a disagreement among their delegates (3 were absent at the time of the vote). Although a people’s electorate ultimately carried the day, Madison’s notes recall the following from the debates on the floor:
“Mr. SHERMAN opposed the election by the people, insisting that it ought to be by the State Legislatures. The people, he said, immediately, should have as little to do as may be about the government. They want information, and are constantly liable to be misled.
Mr. GERRY. The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but are the dupes of pretended patriots.
Mr. BUTLER thought an election by the people an impracticable mode.”
Madison himself, in the course of arguing in favor of an election by the people, recognized that the overall governmental plan being considered by the delegates had no other role for the people, and cautioned that if not granted this right:
“. . . the people would be lost sight of altogether; and the necessary sympathy between them and their rulers and officers too little felt.”
It is apparent from these quotes that the will of the people was never intended to be the central focus of our government. In fact, the opinions of Madison and Alexander Hamilton printed in the Federalist Papers in support of ratification of the Constitution, reflect an inherent distrust for the will of the people. They warned of overbearing majorities and failed democratic efforts, arguing instead for a republic, where deference is given to “enlightened statesmen,” who they believed were better suited to make decisions in the best interest of the public good. Underlying these arguments in favor of a republic was a clear sense of inequality and elitism between the wealthy and educated few, who were viewed as worthy of ruling, and the rural and uneducated many, who they believed could be swayed at the drop of a hat.
While some of our founding fathers may have had truly selfless motives and the best interests of the people in mind, it would be naïve to ignore that others were likely motivated by personal agendas, with an eye toward protecting their wealth, and perpetuating their own power and influence. And so in that respect at least, maybe not that much has changed between then and now, after all.
Ultimately, the political reforms outlined in this book are grounded in a desire to bring about a universal equality, and a belief that the collective whole of us as people, if given the appropriate governmental structure and opportunity, will continue to guide this nation into improved versions of itself. The specific aim of these reforms is to bring about a system where we can continue to better our country and better our quality of life, only without the prolonged injustices and struggles faced by those who came before us.
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