The Deep Democracy In America Summary

“The nature of tyrannies, dictatorships, and oligarchies is to use powers of suppression to deny citizens political and human rights. The nature of democracy is to find ways to guarantee those rights.” (Jacobus, pg. 51) By definition, democracy is, “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.” (en.oxforddictionaries.com) The basic elements of democracy are (but not limited to) free and fair elections, protection of human rights, limited government power, and equality before the law. Robert A. Dahl believed the ideal of a perfect democracy is unrealistic. However, Dahl believed a democratic government is the best option despite its imperfections. Dahl lists

five important requirements for a thoroughly functioning democracy:
1. Real Participation in matters of government
2. All votes count equally
3. A full understanding of the political choices offered
4. Control over what electoral decisions need to be considered
5. All citizens participating equally in government
If Robert Dahl’s list of important requirements for a functioning democracy is essential, that explains why democracy is failing here in America.

Real participation in matters of government:
A system established for the people, by the people cannot be effective if the people don’t participate.

It is our civic right and duty to actively participate in governmental affairs. This recent election really highlighted the divide in opinion regarding the importance of governmental participation. “To many, our democratic system seems so broken that they have simply lost faith that their participation could really matter,” West writes in his essay entitled The Deep Democratic Tradition in America. Young people feel unimportant and irrelevant, which explains the lack in turnout from young voters ages 18-29. However, it wasn’t just young voters that didn’t turnout. Millions of eligible voters didn’t show up for the 2016 elections. A democracy without active participants is a democracy bound for

dysfunction.

All votes count equally:
We must address eligibility before we can even ask the question, “do all votes count equally?” In 2012, stricter voter ID laws negatively impacted some states voter eligibility.

Ten states put voter identification restriction laws into place, restrictions targeting the minority, the poor and the elderly vote. To be quite honest, it’s clear that these voter restrictions are control tactics implemented predominantly by republicans, continuing to be an issue in the most recent election. Although in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Texas court rulings blocked certain new restrictions, fourteen states remain on the list of states with restrictions, including Wisconsin, Kansas and Texas. "We cannot ignore the recent evidence that, because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history,” Judge Diana Motz wrote. In order for votes to be counted equally, all citizens must be allowed the opportunity to even be eligible.

A full understanding of the political choices offered:

There is an intrinsic divide in American democracy, with the educated politicals on one side and the less educated politicals on the other side. It shows the deep estrangement that wounds both ways. The less educated fear they are being governed by a bunch of intellectual snobs that know nothing of their lives and experiences. The educated fear their fate hangs in the hands of a bunch of obtuse, know-nothings who have an unimpressive and illiterate

view of how the world really works. Bringing the two sides together is going to be pretty much impossible if this past election was any indicator.

Control over what electoral decisions need to be considered:
Here in the U.S. we use an Electoral College System. We use a system that was basically created to control “Negros” in the south. James Madison also known as the “Father of the Constitution” founded the Electoral College. He founded the Electoral College in efforts to snub Negro voters influence. “I think if most Americans knew what the origins of the Electoral College is, they would be disgusted.” With voter restrictions still targeting blacks and Hispanics, it is clear that this is another unmet requirement.

There are many issues surrounding democracy here in America, lack of voter turnout, unfair restrictions targeting minorities and elderly, an educational divide, and an ineffective system developed on racism. If Dahl is correct and a functioning democracy is dependent upon fulfilling these 5 requirements it is undoubtedly obvious we have a great deal of work to do. Dahl wrote, “A more democratic world promises also to be a more peaceful world.” Despite the apparent work needed to get America back on track, I too still believe that democracy is the best option in governing this country. It’s time to get our hands dirty America, and fix this mess.