American Democracy, Economy, and the Growing Population

Since 2000, the population of the United States has increased 11%. This change has caused many people to worry about the future of the American economy and democratic system. However, an increase in population is healthy for the American systems of economy and democracy. By understanding the basis upon which democracy operates, one can understand that more people will result in fewer mistakes among the government. On the economic front, more people means more workers in the workforce, creating more competition and incentive to learn a skill or trade.
According to the Pew Research Center, political participation has been increasing over the last two decades. Over 2/3 of Americans regularly participate in elections, petitions, contact officials about issues, or campaign for a political organization. This is due to the increase in the American population. With a steady increase in population, an elected official must work harder to keep his or her voters satisfied and remain in office. With a larger population, comes a larger political voice, more political variety, and competitiveness. In a capitalist society, democratic success is based on competition among those running for office. The larger population typically means that there will be more candidates to choose from, stemming from a more diverse set of ideas; allowing for more political satisfaction among the grassroots. This idea can be connected to the success of a large democratic society, such as the United States. With an increase in population comes more ethnic diversity and minority voice. These different ethnic groups also bring new sets of ideas with them to the political table, helping shape American policy.
A growing population is not only key to democratic success, but economic competition and growth. According to the Economist, more people in the workforce can have two different effects. Either the market becomes saturated and unemployment rises, or people are incentivized to seek higher education in a trade or skill to become more marketable. Due to advances in technology, the American economy has begun to steer away from the need for unskilled labor. This technological advancement can be seen in automated systems replacing the jobs of unskilled workers, a direct result of American population growth. Steady population growth has also contributed to economic competition, resulting in more firms in the market, giving the consumer more variety and the potential employee more opportunity.
Steady population growth is not always as bad as it appears. In the case of the United States, this growth allows the democratic system to operate more efficiently by providing a variety of political stances and diversity to the voter. On the economic side of the coin, population growth inspires competition and growth, giving workers the incentive to seek further education to make themselves more marketable to the larger number of firms in the market. This larger number of firms then contributes to consumer satisfaction and lower prices. In the case of the United States, the pros of population growth outweigh the cons and can clearly be seen in the examples of political participation and economic opportunity.

Economist article: https://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/12/population

Pew Research group : http://www.pewinternet.org/2009/09/01/the-current-state-of-civic-engagement-in-america/

5 Responses to "American Democracy, Economy, and the Growing Population"

Virginia Myers says:

February 12, 2018 at 11:56 am

Dear Austin,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding the pros and cons of a growing population. I appreciate your remarks about the benefits of a growing population – specifically democratic success and economic competition and growth. You mentioned that a growing population either makes the market more saturated, making unemployment rise, or incentivizes people to gain skills to become more marketable. You also mentioned that population growth has contributed to economic competition because there is an increased number of firms and opportunities in the market. I would like to challenge these ideas – if population growth is a positive thing in the United States, why are so many Americans against the idea of immigration? As we discussed in class on Thursday (2/08), there’s a disconnect between the truth of immigration and the reality of it. For some reason, many hold the belief that immigrants are taking over America and taking jobs from Americans. First off, this idea is false because 80% of children are born to mothers who were born in America. Second, if population growth is “good” in America, why are so many people opposing the idea of immigration and voting for laws that restrict people from coming to America? Perhaps it has to do with the outdated belief that America should be made up of people who share our ideals and come from specific countries of origin. Thus, I would also like to challenge the notion that a larger population brings a larger political voice, more political variety, and competitiveness, specifically when you stated, “The larger population typically means that there will be more candidates to choose from, stemming from a more diverse set of ideas.” The issue with this idea is that although it is nice to believe that a bigger, more diverse population brings new voices to the political sphere, unfortunately, so many Americans, including our president, are enacting laws that limit these outside voices from the political playing field. How can we create an environment where diverse opinions are welcome and accepted? Perhaps then we will view population growth as a good thing in the United States.
Jacob Weis says:

February 12, 2018 at 9:33 pm

Austin,

I enjoyed reading your post. I thought that you raised some interesting points in regards to population growth. The growth in population not only has an effect upon politics, but also on the general health of our environment. As the human population grows, competition for fertile land and the use of limited resources increase. This is a vital aspect to consider when looking at the pros and cons. We as a society cannot continue to disregard the harmful things we are doing to the earth we live on.
Madeleine Stone says:

February 13, 2018 at 1:58 pm

Hi Austin,

I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I think the idea about the increase in population being both economically and politically beneficial to our society can also be argued the other way that the increase is negatively effecting our society. We can relate this increase to a similar time in history, during the baby booming years of 1946-1964. This was a period of time after World War II where many people were returning home from war and starting families. Although the economy may have experienced benefits during this specific time period, we are facing the negative effects of the baby boomer generation in present day society. The social security fund will soon become bankrupt because of how many baby boomers are now entering their retirement stage. There will not be enough money in the fund to pay all of the retirees. Once the social security fund goes bankrupt, this will drastically effect our market economy. The population increase of the baby boomer generation over 50 years ago is negatively effecting our economy now. We would not want to see this happen again in the future after this current population increase. It is clear that the social security fund needs to be restructured so this doesn’t happen again, but it also clear that a population increase is not always economically beneficial. Politically, we can argue that a population increase is negative because more people in the voting stratosphere can mean that peoples opinions are not properly represented through their parties beliefs. With our society adapting on a daily basis, peoples beliefs and values are changing as well. Politics don’t often adapt as fast to society and there is usually a lag in enacting changes that society deems necessary. I think that a population increase does in fact have a negative effect on America both politically and economically.
1. Timothy Miller says:
  
  February 13, 2018 at 7:07 pm
  
  Austin,
  I enjoyed reading your post. The benefits you mentioned of a growing population definitely do outweigh the negative effects based on what you presented, but I also see Madeleine’s side of the story. The heavy population growth of the baby boomer generation does have a negative impact as they grow older and their social security is paid for. I have never been a huge environmentalist but I found myself worrying about the world around us multiple times while reading this post. With the steady increase of people we are only depleting our resources and causing more stress on the environment which not only hurts the environment, but can also cost the government a lot of money in cleaning up the environment. I appreciate your post but I would have to side with Madeleine and say that I think the steady rise in population has a negative effect.
David Shaw says:

February 15, 2018 at 8:27 am

Austin,

I like a lot of the points in here, but I think the increased accessibility of politics could be easier listed as a cause for increased political action among the populace. Gone are the days when candidates would simply have their name listed on a paper and wait quietly for the date when the people chose. Now, political campaigns can be a process spanning several years, and the media will have revealed every solitary secret and detail about a candidate to the American people before their time to vote has come. Speeches are widely broadcast on TV and ads are taken out, and all this leaves the American people with a greater sense of intimacy with the candidate. Seeing them talk and move personalizes the election. This can work for good or bad, as certainly much of the 2016 presidential election was decided not by who had better policies, but who the American people better tolerated as individuals. There are also pitfalls concerning our longstanding two party system to consider when discussing diversity. Still, a well written post.

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