Idealizing democracy

“Thus, it is fair to think that an irksome law, whose real value was not observed by the majority, would neither be passed nor obeyed.” Alexis de Tocqueville on the benefits of government by the people, in Democracy in America.

It is just this naive and idealistic view of government that makes me want to throw this book across the room. Just as it is easy to make socialism look like a good idea if you speak only idealistically, so can democracy be written as the golden dream that will solve all legislative problems. Despite the fact that Tocqueville was merely observing what he saw in America, he only saw the start of a new plan. And as anyone who has ever started a new schedule, diet, to do list, etc., knows, everything goes well in the beginning. Everyone is full of enthusiasm, everyone wants to get it right, and it looks like you’ve found something that will actually work.

Unfortunately, reality kicks in. Republican democracy, just like every other system of government, is by no means perfect, as shown by the present condition of the United States. And why? Because humans are imperfect, and no matter how perfect the system, it is humans who will have to administer it. Monarchy works very well—if you can assure that character and leadership are hereditary. Socialism works very well—if you can assure that poltiicians are honest. Republican democracy works well—if you can assure that your representatives actually represent. Sadly, no matter how many laws and regulations there are, men will always have sinful natures, and power will always corrupt. We should not view our government through rosy glasses, as Tocqueville did, seeing only the hypothetical government and not the real one. Neither should we say that democracy doesn’t work simply because it isn’t perfect. Democracy isn’t perfect, but it is certainly the lesser of many evils.

As Winston Churchill said, “Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time.”