A “NEW” DEMOCRACY
CURIOUS to know the financial cost of a representative democratic election in USA, I wasn’t surprised to run across an article estimate of $14 billion. That’s about $3.5 billion a year given this happens every four years. It came to my attention when reading the articles, that we could save all that money if we simply allowed the Supreme Court or the House of Representatives to determine who will be President and Vice-President on behalf of the citizen voters.
All right, so at least for this election, it’s possible that, as some are demanding, should the Supreme Court or the House of Representatives determine the presidency, that it’s possible that we’d be presented with another four years of the current President. Interesting, as that would neither save any money (in fact, it would add considerable cost to this year’s election cost), nor reflect the will of the people or the electoral college.
Should such an event happen, what to call this “new” democracy? An oligarchical, monarchial, authoritarian or totalitarian “democracy?” Or maybe something entirely new. Perhaps an “entitled” democracy? Or, since the popular vote would no longer determine the President and Vice-President, perhaps just drop the word “democracy” altogether?
Are there historical examples of purported democracies reverting or converting to another form of government? Hmmm. How about Athens reverting to an aristocracy after 140 years of near “pure” democracy. The Roman “Republic” reverting to an empire after 450 years of representative democracy. The French “Republic” after the Revolution reverting to a military dictatorship after seven years of attempts to establish a democratic system. The Russian Provisional Government reverting to a one-party/four-republic state after 9 months of democratic contention. The Weimar Republic reverting to a fascist dictatorship after 14 years of contentious representative democracy. Poland reverting to an authoritarian regime after 28 years of semi-democracy…Benjamin Franklin is said to have thought that the United States would do well to last for 200 years. George Washington, the first President, is said to have said, “I do not expect the Constitution to last for more than 20 years.”
The point I’m making is not that democracies ultimately fail, but that a democracy, whether “pure,” “representative,” or semi-democratic are, by the very nature of being a democracy, subject to change. That they can “come and go” is, in my opinion, a testament to their flexibility and durability. The real question is whether a democratic government ever actually votes freely to convert to another form of government, or whether the conversion is affected by a minority using extra-democratic methods. I think mostly the latter, though in times of war or dire national crisis, citizens might vote freely to temporarily give all power to a single autocratic or military dictator.
The bigger question, then, is not whether the United States is destined to die as a constitutional representative democracy, but in these times of national crisis, what the majority of freely voting citizens need, want and desire, and are willing to compromise and work towards. One of the worst case scenarios is presented in Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese’s TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), and a plausible result in Raymond Gaynor’s newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). Both books, while fiction, portray events not unlike those unfolding today.
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
All right, so at least for this election, it’s possible that, as some are demanding, should the Supreme Court or the House of Representatives determine the presidency, that it’s possible that we’d be presented with another four years of the current President. Interesting, as that would neither save any money (in fact, it would add considerable cost to this year’s election cost), nor reflect the will of the people or the electoral college.
Should such an event happen, what to call this “new” democracy? An oligarchical, monarchial, authoritarian or totalitarian “democracy?” Or maybe something entirely new. Perhaps an “entitled” democracy? Or, since the popular vote would no longer determine the President and Vice-President, perhaps just drop the word “democracy” altogether?
Are there historical examples of purported democracies reverting or converting to another form of government? Hmmm. How about Athens reverting to an aristocracy after 140 years of near “pure” democracy. The Roman “Republic” reverting to an empire after 450 years of representative democracy. The French “Republic” after the Revolution reverting to a military dictatorship after seven years of attempts to establish a democratic system. The Russian Provisional Government reverting to a one-party/four-republic state after 9 months of democratic contention. The Weimar Republic reverting to a fascist dictatorship after 14 years of contentious representative democracy. Poland reverting to an authoritarian regime after 28 years of semi-democracy…Benjamin Franklin is said to have thought that the United States would do well to last for 200 years. George Washington, the first President, is said to have said, “I do not expect the Constitution to last for more than 20 years.”
The point I’m making is not that democracies ultimately fail, but that a democracy, whether “pure,” “representative,” or semi-democratic are, by the very nature of being a democracy, subject to change. That they can “come and go” is, in my opinion, a testament to their flexibility and durability. The real question is whether a democratic government ever actually votes freely to convert to another form of government, or whether the conversion is affected by a minority using extra-democratic methods. I think mostly the latter, though in times of war or dire national crisis, citizens might vote freely to temporarily give all power to a single autocratic or military dictator.
The bigger question, then, is not whether the United States is destined to die as a constitutional representative democracy, but in these times of national crisis, what the majority of freely voting citizens need, want and desire, and are willing to compromise and work towards. One of the worst case scenarios is presented in Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese’s TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), and a plausible result in Raymond Gaynor’s newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). Both books, while fiction, portray events not unlike those unfolding today.
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
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