American Democracy (2)

The founders of the United States were extremely suspicion of the passions of the common man and so created a representative republic but not - repeat not - a democracy.

Our government spends a great deal of time attempting to promote democracy in other people's countries while ignoring the fact that the USA, more than two hundred and thirty years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, is still not actually a democracy.

When the constitution was ratified in 1788, slaves and women were not entitled to vote. For male citizens, there was also a property qualification. Even then, the right to vote counted for less than we are now accustomed to. Although Congressmen were directly elected, Senators were appointed by Governors or State Legislators. Even in 1796, the first Presidential Election after the retirement of George Washington, the Members of the Electoral College (an abomination that exists to this day) were appointed in nine, and directly elected in only seven, of the sixteen States.

The Electoral College still exists and is arguably less democratic now than in 1796. The real scandal, however, is the disenfranchisement of six hundred thousand citizens who live in the District of Columbia. While the District does have votes, as if it were a State, in the Electoral College, it has only a non-voting Delegate in the House of Representatives and no representation whatsoever in the Senate.

Even though it is not a democracy, the USA claims to be one and should do the right thing by permitting the citizens of the District of Columbia to exercise the rights on which our country was founded. Since it may well take a Constitutional Amendment to right the wrong, the principled course of action would be to start the process now.

This should be a matter of fundamental right - not a matter of political advantage. Unfortunately, our representatives, as usual, can be found wallowing in the slough of self-interest. The Democratic Party supports voting rights for the District because its population consists overwhelmingly of Democrats: the Republican Party opposes those rights for exactly that same reason.

Were American politicians to follow Mark Twain's advice, the world might be a slightly better place:

Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

Regrettably, the chance of this happening is vanishingly close to zero.