Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system. It is derived from a Greek word that means "popular government." In it's original form, there were no defined human rights or legal restraints upon the actions of assembly.

In political theory, democracy describes a small number of related forms of government and also a political philosophy. Even though there is no universally accepted definition of 'democracy', there are two principles that any definition of democracy includes. The first principle is that all members of the society have equal access to power and the second that all members enjoy universally recognized freedoms and liberties.

Having thought about the governmental system in the USA the past couple days - I'm no longer convinced it is a "Democracy". I hear you muttering and see you rolling your eyes... but when the government gets approval ratings markedly less than 30% you might think the elected ones are no longer listening to "the people" nor do they care to. I find it laughable that our government claims to be in Iraq to secure democracy for Iraqi citizens... how about starting at home???

I won't even get to deeply into things like the archaic Electoral College. In the United States, the only current example of an indirectly elected executive president, the electoral college is made up of electors representing the 50 states and one federal district. The electors generally cast their votes according to the winner of the popular vote in their respective states, but are not required by law to do so.

Who are these people and how to they get selected?

The Founding Fathers set things up this way as a hedge in the case the Republic they were framing didn't work properly and the larger states (by population) took power away from the smaller ones. The very existence of this "safe-guard" means this country does not have a system of equality in with respect to vote (and therefore is not a democracy.)

I offer the following in the spirit of "might the change I suggest make things better"?

How about requiring those running for some other office resign and step down from any office they may hold when they announce their candidacy? Did the voters in New York (Clinton), Delaware (Biden), Illinois (Obama), and Arizona (McCain) get represented properly while these folks were on the campaign trail for months and months? And who is running the show in Alaska (Palin) these days?

I also want to present this, the seniority system in Congress, whereby positions on powerful committees are assigned is antithetical to democracy in that it allows unreasonable amount of power be held by those that are repeatedly re-elected. A true democracy wouldn't have some people thinking "we need term-limits" because some "old farts" get re-elected time and time again and they change the balance of power from that of "equal voice for all" to that of the voice of the "old (and some of them quite doddering) fart's club". If committee memberships were assigned by merit or even at random, irrespective of seniority - perhaps something good would happen?

Take Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, for example. An 84 year-old convicted felon that might win re-election regardless of being convicted seven times over - the only reason his candidacy is still viable is that his seniority places him in important and powerful committee positions. At best, the man is so feeble-minded he couldn't track a quarter million dollars in gifts given to him in his own home and at worse he is a wicked man simply corrupted by prolonged exposure to power - either way, is he someone YOU want representing YOU and in charge of YOUR hard earned tax dollars?

If he is re-elected, the Senate may, but it doesn't HAVE to, expel him. Accountability, credibility and integrity aren't exactly their watchwords you know. It seems like it's Justice for All - but themselves.

To expect careerist politicians to vote for, and pass some sort of term-limit law is like expecting money to fall from the sky the next time it rains - it's not going to happen. A true Democracy would have a way to hold a national referendum, and a way to abolish the electoral college, seniority, and other shenanigans that stand in the way of a person thinking his or hers vote actually counts - as opposed to the all-mighty dollar simply buying the way into the old boy's club by the "elite few". Can an Constitutional Amendment removing seniority or implementing term-limits be shoved through the Congress today?

I know this is my opinion and some of you will disagree - and having *that* ability is what democracy is all about.