Models of Democracy Blog Post

  

When the United States of America declared it's independence in 1776, the founding fathers had a rough idea about how the country ought to be run.  They knew that their government needed to differ from that of the British (monarchy where a king rules all), however the details were not described.  Finally, in 1778, after years of debate, it was established that the United States would identify as a democratic nation.  According to Merriam-Webster, democracy is defined as a "government by the people".  This idea had never been exercised since the time of the ancient Greeks, where the men met and made all decisions regarding the city-state.  Therefore, there are many different ways a democracy can be defined as.  One way is using the system "participatory democracy", or the people directly rule the nation and use ballots to make decisions.  Another system is "pluralist democracy", or groups or organizations compete and comprise to make decisions.  Finally, the last system is called "elite democracy", where the upper class or rich will make all decisions concerning the government.  Though I would consider today's government to be a mixture of all three ideas, it is obvious that pluralist democracy most accurately represents our government because of the importance of the idea of "factions".

James Madison

The United States in the very beginning was a mash of many different cultures originating from many different places.  There were many different religious groups, ethnic groups, and working classes that were all a part of society during that time.  In addition, these groups also had very different ideas and thoughts on how the government was to be conducted.  Therefore, the founding fathers instilled a system in which that groups organize to exert influence on political decision making.  In other words, the power was given to different groups of similar people with similar ideas so they could be represented and have a voice in the government.  This system can also be called a pluralist democracy.  To back this claim up, James Madison, the man who is considered the father of the Constitution, wrote a document called "Federalist #10".  In this document, Madison argued that the Constitution should be ratified because many different groups called "factions", or a number of people who share similar beliefs, will be able to control and check the government's power.  He meant that there will be so many different groups, having different ideas, that not one group will grab all of the power, and all different viewpoints will be heard and taken into consideration.  Madison says himself that factions, whether part of the majority or minority, are "united and actuated to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community" (Federalist #10).  As I interpret it, Madison is explaining how factions work, that their aim is to benefit the people that they are representing.  This is clearly a justification for the use of factions, and how they will operate on the national scale.  In addition, there are many examples of interest groups influencing the government in American history.  The NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) fought for the rights and liberties of African Americans during the era of racism in the early to mid 20th century.  After many years of calling for civil rights among all people, the United States became desegregated in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  This shows the power that groups have; they are influential and can change an entire country for the better.  The founding fathers clearly meant to give groups like this the ability to make a difference in the government.

There are many interpretations to the Constitution and what our government was meant to look like.  Once again, the most common ideals are "participatory democracy", or the people directly rule the nation and use ballots to make decisions, "pluralist democracy", or groups or organizations compete and comprise to make decisions, and "elite democracy", where the upper class or rich will make all decisions concerning the government.  That being said, there is always one answer that is more plausible or appealing than the others.  This would have be the system of pluralist democracy because the stressing of the importance of factions that was made by Madison in Federalist #10.  Also, many examples of groups influencing the government are present in American history such as the NAACP.  This was made possible by the founding fathers' willingness to relinquish government power to groups.  Interest groups even today are an important part of our government, and this is because it was meant to be that way.