In general, I’ve never really given much thought to “democracy” — that is, as conventional wisdom dictated to my apparent preconceived notion, democracy is good, right?

Well, after reading Andrew Sullivan’s piece, “America Has Never Been So Ripe for Tyranny”, in the New York Magazine, I really began to question to what extent is democracy actually beneficial to our country. Yes, generally speaking, I do believe that equal opportunities and rights for all people is something that we need to work on and strive for. However, specifically speaking, we should be more cautious in regards to how open-minded we are actually being and following through with the “mob mentality” when we elect our president.

In respect to this preparedness, Sullivan argues that America’s stability in terms of democracy is largely due to the Founding Father’s consideration of Plato’s fear that democracy may inevitably be a birthing site for tyranny: “To guard our democracy from the tyranny of the majority and the passions of the mob, they constructed large, hefty barriers between the popular will and the exercise of power.”

As portrayed by recent events, Americans have seemingly started to become more tolerant of having anybody lead their country because nobody trusts politicians. But, at the same time, no “ordinary” citizen truly knows how the government operates as well as the people of their eminent distrust. Evident by the once-running campaigns of Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson, but fully exacerbated by the Republican candidate Donald Trump, “this further widening of our democracy — our increased openness to being led by anyone; indeed, our accelerating preference for outsiders — is now almost complete.”

Are we really going to let someone with no political background lead our country? Honestly, this really terrifies me, and political affiliation aside, I think we all should be worried. When our “democracy” broadens so much so to the point where our next president has even resorted to name-calling his opponents in a debate, paired with all of the ridiculous remarks he has made in his spotlight, we should be concerned. Additionally, Sullivan even remarks that perhaps the GOP should stop trying to justify their support for Trump and instead sacrifice this election for the sake of our country.

Essentially, I think both a framework of governance and equal rights should be present, but there’s a line to be drawn before we crossover the lines of a “democracy” in this regard.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/04/america-tyranny-donald-trump.html#

Democracy—what is the exact definition of democracy? Is there even a definition, or is it just an open ended idea that exists in our minds? As defined by Merriam-Webster, democracy is “a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting” and “an organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights.” But, do we all have equal rights, or does that only apply to some people?

If we were all to be treated equally, why does racism and sexism exist? Are we even giving the same amount of chances to those who are colored? Though some would say that colored people are not putting in enough effort, it is almost inevitable to say that racism exists. With the addition of media play, it seems as if colored people are not recognized for their efforts. Continually, white superiority flourishes and is almost unbeatable.

Additionally, women continue to make less than men do even though they do the same amount of work. Women make up approximately half of the work force, as do men, but most women make 80% of what men make. Despite ongoing fights for the rights and equality of women, some people just can’t seem to trust a female candidate for the presidency. Like the election in 2008, people were skeptical of having a colored president at first, we should be accepting of difference.

We, as citizens of the United States, should become more open-minded to diversity. If we are to continue to be a democratic country, we should demonstrate democratic ideas and mend the flaws we have made.

Please read “What Happened to the Girls of Le Roy” by Susan Dominus, NY Times, March 7, 2012.

Dominus describes an outbreak of “hysteria” in upstate New York in 2012 that has eeerie echoes of 17th century Salem!

This presidential election of 2016, has so far been a roller coaster of a ride with a still anticipated hard drop that may drastically change the course of history.  The presidential debate last week has reiterated some of the different ways that democracy has taken a different turn in this country. One particular candidate, Donald Trump, has taken an unusual approach to American democracy. Many of his usual outrageous statements were made in the debate. Yet in the setting of a professional presidential debate, I think it is highly unprofessional for a presidential candidate to emphasize and question such unrelated factors such as the state of stamina of the opposing presidential candidate. Trump also put even more light on how he doesn’t care about the issues of minorities, including the problem of race and crime in many communities, as he showed support for stop-and-frisk, in outrageous claims to help African American and Latino communities. Our democracy is meant to support the American people and all of them, regardless of sex, race and sexuality. Yet there is a clear threat to that democracy through the actions of a potential Presidential figure.

On top of that, after reading a NYtimes opinion article titled, “Who Gets to Vote,” written by Alexander Keyssar, I realized an even stronger threat to American democracy that is already in place. Voting in elections is pretty much the basic principle and right given by American democracy.  Yet in recent years, many states have enforced stricter voting laws in result of the changes of the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Many ID laws have been put in place in different states, making it harder for those who don’t have photo identification to vote.  These laws put a disadvantage to African Americans and Latino voters as based on statistics, these groups are more likely to lack accepted photo identification. Many registered voters of these states with these voting laws, will be affected, with Texas having an approximated 600,000 registered voters being affected with their anticipated strict ID law. This can greatly affect the turnout of the election as truly, not all registered voters can even participate in voting for this election due to these laws. It also benefits the Republican party as it is in their benefit by “reducing turnout among poor people, African-Americans, Hispanics and students.” We as a country, need a democracy that delivers to the people, where our different political beliefs don’t get in the way of equal rights.

The idea of democracy in America can be very confusing to someone who is learning about democracy for the first time. In middle school history classes all around the United States, students are taught the basics, benefits, and disadvantages within the standard system of democracy. However, when it comes to democracy in America, there are many alterations of its system of democracy when compared to what is considered and taught as democracy. Some Americans consider the system of government to be more republic rather than democratic. According to the New York Times article, “Is There Too Much Democracy in America or Too Little?”, Michael Lind addresses the commonly discussed issue in America that our country’s current system of democracy is too weak and focused heavily on the federal government instead of the state and local governments.  When thinking of a regular, unaltered democratic society, we think of a system of government that evenly distributes power between the federal, state, and local government by giving each government certain responsibilities to oversee. Michael Lind discusses how as of late, the federal government has been receiving more and more power due to the attainment of responsibilities that formally belonged to both the local and state governments. This starts to create a “democratic deficit”, which causes an imbalance of power and a loss of the idea of democracy as a whole. Examples of this loss of distribution are the nationalization of the New Deal, the Supreme Court’s constitutionalization of reproductive rights, gay rights, and civil rights, and the recent addition of federal grants-in-aid which takes up a third of state government spending. It is very apparent that the American system of government is starting to slowly see an increase in centralization. Michael Lind and I both agree that there needs to be an increase in democracy. This can be done with aim towards decentralization by giving the states and local governments the power that they deserve. Without this, America will only see a loss in its current system of “democracy”.

At first I wasn’t sure what to write about. But then I thought about registering to vote and how not everyone is registered to vote and not all registered voters vote. Nearly 44 percent of registered voters America do not participate in the Election Day that decides the next president of the United States. This is extremely critical as we decide who our next president should be and if everyone voted the results could change dramatically. So why don’t people vote? Especially when it can decide their future and the world they live in. People think it’s rigged, controlled be people on Wall Street, or their one vote just won’t affect the result. People don’t participate when they feel there isn’t any benefit to them. As a country where we have the power to control the next leader of our nation we should take advantage of this fact. Many people say they can’t vote because they have to work and there to busy.  And quite frankly I think it is obnoxious that people can’t vote because their worried economically. And is it a proven fact that a higher percentage of people who make more money vote. As a democratic country where we have so many people not voting makes it less democratic. There is already a movement to make the Election Day a national holiday. There are already many countries that have done this already including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and New Zealand. They have already surpassed us in voter turnout.  By giving Americans a paid holiday we are ensuring not only people will have a political participation but America’s electoral process is as democratic as we’d like to believe.                                                                                http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/7/most-americans-dont-vote-in-elections-heres-why.html

Please read the following articles in preparations for Wednesday’s class.  Bring hard copies with you to class on Wed.

“Colin Kaepernick shouldn’t stand up if he doesn’t want to,”  LA Times 8/31/16

Josh Levin, “Colin Kaepernick’s Protest is Working,” Slate, 9/12/16

David Brooks, “The Uses of Patriotism,” New York Times, 9/16/16

Rembert Browne, “My 17-Year Old Self on David Brooks on Colin Kaepernick,” New York Magazine, 9/16/16

Raymond Pietzak

Like any smart individual who needs to write about democracy, their first step is google. After doing that I found an article that struck my eye when I saw the title “Donald Trump is a Unique Threat to American Democracy” so I clicked and ended up reading the whole thing. In a democracy the people of that nation vote on the bills that are soon to become laws, and decide to pass or veto them. This made me realize that we don’t even have a democracy in our country we have more of a republic then anything. This basically means we as a people vote on other, more qualified people to elect, and pass the laws that we have today. I found a video explaining how our founding fathers intended on how our country should be ran, and they felt that a true democracy was not the best option. This then brings me back to the article that I found that said Donald Trump was a treat to our democracy. This statement, first, is false because America was never a democracy in the first place it was a intended to be a republic from the beginning. Although Mr. Trump is very unique like they said, the article never really talks about how he is going to impact the American society. I may not agree with the views of Donald Trump, and the fact that he has not made a clear stance in some of the controversial topics, makes many hesitant on how he could execute in office. With this entire election I feel as if the candidates are just trying to make the other look worse so that they seem like the best candidate for the job to lead our countries. This in my opinion is what would be the worst thing to threaten our government. Our candidates should be trying to prove their stance in a way to get the American people on their side instead of saying that the other person’s ideas are not what is best for our country with no evidence of such. Since this article was targeting Trump and how his ways to try and get the American people on his side isn’t working because he realized that his initial belief wasn’t in the best interest of the country. Although we are not a democracy we are still the ones deciding on who we elect as our next president and we should have candidates that put their best foot forward instead of pulling their opposing candidate behind them.

“Donald Trump is a Unique Threat to American Democracy”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-is-a-unique-threat-to-american-democracy/2016/07/22/a6d823cc-4f4f-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html?utm_term=.2e5dacc482eb

“Is America Really a Democracy?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04n6qrBwFBE

Democracy: A government system where the general public decides what is best for the economy. Where people have the greater say.

United States has always prided itself of being a democratic country, who fights for justice not only in side of the nation but also throughout the world. It prides itself of being the country with the most opportunity and the most freedom for its people. Yet the truth is that no matter how great a country is there is always an ugly side to every beautiful story.

Going more specific into one aspect of society is the vague word terrorist. Ever since 9-11 has occurred the entire country has been in this protective shell where every person who resembles a little of track is aligned with terrorism. This fear lead the country of freedom to neglect the public’s privacy and tap into every individuals lives to monitor for any terrorist behaviors with in the country.

With this new tactic the government began to question any individual that falls in the borders of being affiliated with any terrorist organizations. One way the government deals with these suspects is by various methods of torture. Although torture tactics was banned in U.S.A. for a certain time, the U.S. officials found loop holes. These loop holes consisted of abducting the suspected individuals and smuggling them into an entire new nation where various torture tactics are legal to use.

Many of these torture tactics include innocent prisoners being constantly raped by the militia that are in charge. Prisoners being stripped naked and humiliates. Prisoners starved as well as electrocuted. So much for the land of the brave where each individual is supposed to fight for justice throughout the world.

The nation itself engages in various un-democratic activities. Now the question becomes what is truly democracy and is United States in fact cut out to have pride in being a democratic country.

*These thoughts has originated from Politics lecture that the class participated on Friday Sep 16, 2016.

As promised, here is the 1883 poem that is engraved on the base of The Statue of Liberty:

The New Colossus

 By Emma Lazarus