The State of Democracy in America

Most people agree that government is necessary to maintain order, protect in a unified front against opposing forces, and help maintain public necessities such as education. The optimal type of government to do so however, may be debated. The popular opinion amongst Americans is that democracy is the best type of government when it comes to creating laws which represent the will of the people. This is because the very basis of democracy is citizens being able to rule, rather than an elite ruling body not elected by everyday people, such as a monarchy or oligarchy. The ideals of democracy allow for protection of human rights, legitimate policies resulting from the pooled opinions of voters, and evidence even supports it having economic benefits.

The U.S. democracy is certainly better attuned to the opinions of citizens than many governments around the world, but one may argue that it’s still a far way from being a true democracy. Traditionally, 5th century BCE Athens is recognized as being the closest government to true democracy to ever exist. This is because free men gathered to vote in assemblies, in what is known as a direct democracy. Since direct democracy is extremely inefficient, countries such as the United States have adopted representative democracies, in which representatives are elected.

The existence of political liberty and political equality are necessary for popular sovereignty, which is the idea that governed citizens are the ultimate form of authority. For popular sovereignty to continue, there must be free and fair elections which are competitive, a high level of participation from governed citizens, availability of honest, high-quality information for citizens, the majority vote rules, and the wishes of the governed are adhered to. While this structure works well in theory, objections include the threat of majority tyranny, uneducated and irrational voters, and minorities being ignored.

So what state is our democracy in today? To answer this question, the democracy-focused group Bright Line Watch invited political science faculty from 511 American institutions to participate in a three-part survey. Part two of the survey, which will be the portion discussed here, was taken shortly after President Trump’s first one hundred days in office. 1,126 participants ranked the United States on twenty-nine different democratic principles, categorized under “freedom of expression, quality of elections, accountability, political equality” and “norms of civility”.

The results demonstrate that while freedom of expression remains a highly adhered to democratic principle (72% of participants ranked the standard as mostly or fully met), political equality and norms of civility are struggling (28% and 14%, respectively, of participants ranked the standards as mostly or fully met). Concerning political and legal accountability, results are much more mixed. This may be due to the survey being conducted so close to President Trump’s firing of former FBI director James Comey, but also being affected shortly after by the Justice Department appointing Robert Mueller to lead an investigation into the extent of Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. election, as well as any possibilities of collusion with campaign officials. These circumstances result in mixed rankings because one may represent an abuse of power, while the other is a check on executive power.

Therefore, while the United States may face some deterioration of democracy in the sense that maintaining a civil and fair political atmosphere isn’t highly-valued currently, it also remains to be one of the most successful and productive democracies in the world. The existence of free and fair elections, with candidates who act in accordance with the wishes of the people is fundamental to our ideals as a nation, and the results show that at least when it comes to liberty, and the freedom for people to control their own government, the United States is still considered a prosperous democracy.

5 Responses to "The State of Democracy in America"

Klein Evans says:

January 28, 2018 at 3:15 pm

Great blog post on the State of Democracy in America as we know it today! I think that the way you started your post was extremely effective in catching the audience’s attention. By giving a clear comparison and definition of both direct and representative democracies it gives a perfect background on democracy before specifically focusing on America.

I really enjoyed the reference to the Bright-Line group. I believe the information collected by them gives us a great idea of what our democracy really looks like today! The stat that gave me both the most concern and hope is our nations struggle with political equality. I believe that it is a very terrible thing going on currently but at the same time there is a huge opportunity for us Americans to make changes and improve this.

I would suggest to maybe implement some comparisons to America’s democracy in today’s world. This could be done in the same manner in which you compared direct and representative democracies at the beginning. Perhaps talking about Sweden or Canada and how they compare to the US in different categories could help strengthen your message.

Great blog post Cassandra.
Kayla Corbin says:

January 28, 2018 at 9:09 pm

Cassandra,

Your post on democracy is definitely insightful and sums up well what our textbook says about democracy and what we learned in class.
It’s definitely important to recognize the difficulties that are faced in even the most “perfect” democracy. I like your visual aid that shows the findings of the Bright Line Watch survey. The Bright Line Watch survey highlights something really important which is participation in government. The U.S trails most developed countries in the percentage of eligible voters exercising their right to vote. So, it begs the question, if we have such a good democracy why don’t people participate?
It’s a very common feeling in America that our democracy is broken and the feeling of apathy runs deep, especially among younger voters who believe their votes don’t count. A good way to talk more about American government in terms of deterioration is to talk about participation and the legitimacy of the American government to American voters because even though America has a successful democracy, many citizens’ opinions would lead someone to believe different.
Overall, I enjoyed your post and you did a good job!
Samuel Lambeth says:

January 28, 2018 at 9:59 pm

Cassandra,

I enjoyed reading your post because you easily laid out the types of democracies, the conditions of a successful democracy, and used an insightful three-part survey to support your analysis on the current quality of the United State’s democracy. While reviewing the 29 principles of a democracy in the survey, I could only keep thinking about how different the results would be if the respondents retook the survey today. I think this because several issue related events have taken place even since Comey was fired as the director of the FBI. Personally, I have noticed that this presidential administration is broadcasted more on national television than previous administrations. In recent news, the democratic principle dealing with the interference of the press has been addressed when President Trump voiced his negative opinion about the democratic news reporters being misleading. Also, government influence on the media has changed recently due to new regulations banning net neutrality. Overall, the democracy condition that permits citizens to govern and run for office has allowed an elite businessman to lead the executive office while influencing our democracy’s “norms of civility.” Great job with your post. It’s also interesting how you chose to highlight this topic as the president’s first State of the Union is coming up this Tuesday.
Thomas Cody says:

January 30, 2018 at 11:26 am

Cassandra,
I enjoyed your post and agree with many of your points, but I did feel you failed to point out many of the issues with our American democracy. For example, the last election gave us a leader that did not get the most votes of all of the candidates. Citizens United v. FEC back in 2010 gave wealthy individuals and groups the power to pour endless sums of money into our political system, backing any candidate that they want. Minorities are still under attack from police brutality and LGBT individuals are still being turned away from businesses. With the majority not getting who they want in elections, a few wealthy individuals getting more political say than everyone else, and minorities still being oppressed, is it still clear that American democracy is the best system of government out there?
Langley Crisp says:

January 30, 2018 at 11:37 pm

Cassandra,

I find your blog post very interesting, especially when you discussed how survey results may be affected by the political atmosphere at the time they were answered. This is a very astute observation and I very must appreciate your mentioning it, and the transparency it provides when reading those survey results.

Your post actually made me wonder what it would be like if the US were to operate as a direct democracy. From what I gather from your post, you suggest that a direct democracy would not work in the United States due to its size. While I agree with you, I would like to push further and explore how the US would be impacted if it were to operate as a direct democracy despite the timeliness factor.

I’m not exactly sure the answer as to what would happen, however, I do know that majority voters would definitely overpower minority voters. This is because of voter inequality. Also, people who are less educated would be making decisions on bills that they couldn’t understand. This all leads to a plethora of other issues which further prove that a representative democracy is better than a direct democracy for the United States. I would argue that a representative democracy is more democratic than a direct democracy, at least in context of a country as large as America. This is because it allows the minorities to have a greater voice, and protects them against the majority.

I think your blog post offers some really interesting insight into our democracy, how society views our democracy, and also the fact that current politics greatly impact survey results.

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