Is democracy failing as a form of government?

You know, when I first saw this question I was thinking democracy might be in jeopardy because as minority groups get larger, people might not want everyone to get a vote. In terms of big business and money, I find it to be a disgrace how we allow big business to influence and participate in the political process, but for most of US history I would guess money equalled power and it still does.

To answer the question directly, I don’t think democracy is going anywhere.

Not at all. It is definitely fixable.

If you look at the history of the US, we have had these cycles when power would slip from the hands of the people to big businesses and special interest groups, and vice versa. So I wouldn’t hold my breathe at the moment, there’s a very good chance that it will return to the individual voter.

No. It is actually spreading, not dying. But it relies on an informed and educated electorate, and that is definitely failing in the America now run by a Corporatocracy. However, I can hope that the corporate moguls come to realize that the old fable about killing the goose that lays the golden eggs applies to them. Sure they are multinationals and can move on to greener pastures if they destroy the richness of the soil here. But it doesn’t take too long before slash-and-burn farmers run out of rain forest to destroy, and start to starve.

On the contrary, I would say the current tumult in the masses in just the US show that democracy is thriving. Some of the things they are saying may be anti-democratic in that they wish to silence opposition, but the fact that they are safe and allowed to say these things is proof to my eyes that some freedoms still reign.

No. A democracy’s capacity for self-renewal is very high, even against distructive internal forces, which is what we are facing now.

Democracy is only as good as the average of the voters.

We have higher voter turnout for American Idol than for general elections, sue McDonalds because we get fat after eating three Big Macs a day, place complete faith in soundbites rather than think for ourselves, and (on average) are ignorant, lazy, and proud of it. (Those who even bother to come to Fluther are generally a more informed and active sort of crowd, so I feel safe in saying that we don’t have any truly average people here. If nothing else, we are curious; most people aren’t) With that sort of voting populace, we are bound to get some screwed up results even if the system itself if perfect; garbage in, garbage out.

Of course, in a society where money = free speech and all of the wealth is concentrated at the top, it’s a little hard to have a democracy anyways….

@jerv

Careful. Your cynicism is showing! Heh! Actually, it’s always been this way, with a majority of the people aviding thinking for themselves and allowing the “elite” think for them. If it’s not the politcal elite, it’s the aristocracy, or the clergy, etc.

This could be one of the reasons Democracy appears to be failing:

The following questions were asked in last year’s GED examination.
These are genuine answers (from 16 year olds’)............and they WILL breed.

Q. Name the four seasons.
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar

Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q. How is dew formed?
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q. What causes the tides in the oceans?
A. The tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins the fight.

Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist upon?
A. If you are buying a house they will insist that you are well endowed.

Q. In a democratic society, how important are elections?
A. Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.

Q. What are steroids?
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.(Shoot yourself now, there is little hope.)

Q.. What happens to your body as you age?
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental. (At least they get to travel!)

Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery (So true!)

Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A. Premature death.

Q. What is artificial insemination
A. When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the cow.

Q. How can you delay milk turning sour?
A. Keep it in the cow. (Simple, but brilliant.)

Q. How are the main 20 parts of the body categorized? (e.g. The abdomen.)
A. The body is consisted into 3 parts – the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels: A, E, I,O,U..(WTF!)

Q. What is the fibula?
A. A small lie. (This person has a career in politics awaiting!)

Q. What does ‘varicose’ mean?
A. Nearby.

Q. What is the most common form of birth control?
A. Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium. (That would work.)

Q. Give the meaning of the term ‘Cesarean section’.
A. The Cesarean section is a district in Rome .

Q. What is a seizure?
A. A Roman Emperor. (Julius Seizure, I came, I saw, I had a fit!)

Q. What is a terminal illness?
A. When you are sick at the airport.(Irrefutable!)

Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like tiny umbrellas.

Q. Use the word ‘judicious’ in a sentence to show you understand its meaning.
A. Hands that judicious can be soft as your face. (OMG)

Q. What does the word ‘benign’ mean?
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight. (Brilliant)

Q. What is a turbine?
A. Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head

@CaptainHarley Me? Cynical?! Bah!
Oh, and many of them have bred already!

TELL me about it! LOL!

Do not accept capitalism as being synonymous with democracy!
Do not accept a corporatocracy as a system that values human rights and human lives.

Do not assume that an elected government is sufficient to have a democracy!
It is necessary but certainly not sufficient.

If you get fundamentally the same quality of government regardless of what party holds office and the same interest groups continue to have their needs met while most citizens do not, then you do not have a true democracy.

@Dr_Lawrence

Then, by your definition, the US does not have a democracy.

@CaptainHarley It is more of a republic, or “democratic republic”

To answer the question democracy,a true one would never work. It depends on how you apply it and to what extent it is.

@jerv I think on American Idol there is not limit to how many times you can vote, and people under 18 can vote, andif you are not American you can vote. So, I don’t understand why the stat means so much to people.

@JLeslie There is much that I do not understand. For instance, how anybody with a brainstem can give some of the responses listed in @CaptainHarley‘s long post above.

@Dr_Lawrence You hit the nail on the head. The USA has been moving toward a complete Corporatocracy ever since WWII. President Eisenhower’s warning against the threat of the Military Industrial Complex was prescient. Now, 6 major industries virtually rule the USA and they have their hands and money at the hearts of both political parties. I believe they fomment the warring between the right and left as a distraction to keep any of us from noticing the man behind the curtain, pulling both party’s strings.

I think (and I am pretty cynical myself) that democracy is really more of a good idea rather than a successfully functioning government. Its acceptance persists because we can vote, speak freely, and have other civil liberties. But we have to struggle with questions like, “Do our votes even count?”, “Do we really have free speech?”. I know, I know… compared to other countries, we’re great. But this isn’t a comparison; it’s a question about democracy’s validity as a government. And I say that it’s not; it’s just a good idea to keep the course – Rich in power, poor at the bottom, and the middle class as a buffer.

@jerv

Minimal brain dysfunction, advanced ADHD, and never having been told they need to learn to think to survive. : )

@silverfly Democracy persists and is spreading because Winston Churchill was absolutely right when he said, “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.”