What Type of Democracy?

        Back in 1787 when the Constitution was written, the founding fathers (principally James Madison), wanted a government in which the people could participate. This type of government is called a Democracy, which is Greek for "Rule by the People". There are three different types of Democracy including Participatory, Pluralist, and Elite. When writing the Constitution, the founding fathers intended for the government to be run by a pluralist Democracy, where there are many different parties with many different interests.
        A pluralist democracy is one where many different groups or factions get to help run the government. These factions usually have many different competitive interests, and according to James Madison in Federalist #10, these competing factions were exactly what the country needed to run. By running a pluralist democracy, it assured that the government focused on the interests of all of the factions, and the people within them. Since the United States was too big to run a direct Democracy back then, James Madison decided a republic would be the best way to go because if you "Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens" (Madison Federalist 10). Basically, Mr. Madison is saying that because there is a greater population in the country, there will be many more factions, with many different passions and interests. Because there are so many groups, it is impossible for one faction to become too powerful and dominate the government. Each and every faction will be able to express their opinions openly while competing against each other, to keep each group in check. The political cartoon below is showing a congressman, and the pencil which is written in the speech bubble is labeled Lobbyists. A lobbyist is someone that is hired usually by wealthier factions to persuade the views of congress. For example, a faction today like the NRA has the money to hire these lobbyists to talk to congress about their interests, passions, and opinions on gun rights. Other groups like the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence can also hire lobbyists to talk to congress, and debate against the NRA. This ties in with what the founding fathers wanted because it expresses the different factions who have opposing views, and debate on those views to persuade the government how to better the country based on their compromise.
                                     

Our founding fathers wanted a pluralist democracy most out of the three options. This type of government allowed for the people to participate in government in ways that are meaningful to them, and let them express their opinions and passions without the people having enough power to overrule others in the society.