Is Democracy dead in America?

The Greeks were the first citizens to have a democratic form of government in the world. The idea of democracy was "one person- one vote." The Greeks would say that a version of democracy was alive and well in the world, but they would roll over in their graves at the notion of our present-day form of representation. Since the U.S. is the primary proponent of this political philosophy in the world, I think we should examine whether we have a true democracy today.

In 2004, we are going to elect the most powerful person in the world and we have two choices. Both of these choices were from a very wealthy and privledged back ground. Both candidates came from political families with wealthy parents. Did these two men represent tha average American? I think we have the answer to that question.

We saw in the election of 2000 that our vote does count. Mr. Bush won the Presidency by just a couple thousand votes in many states. But did everyone that has the right to vote get to the polls and vote? I think the answer to that question is a resounding NO!  So, is this true democracy? Many voters were turned away at the polls for a variety of reasons and many voters stayed away because of apathy. They felt that their vote was useless or did not like the choices available.

Every year, voter turn-out is a pathetic 30% or less. Less than 30 % of the population elects our  local, state, and federal government representatives. There are many reasons for this turn-out. Many people do not realize that their vote does count. Many people are lazy and do not want to vote, or simply just do not care. Additionally, some may think that there is a lack of appealing choices at the polling stations.

We have a lack of choices for several reasons. The biggest reason is money. To run for  federal Congress, the minimum amount of funding a candidate needs is 1 million dollars. This is why Congress has more millionaires right now than anytime in history. An average person who works for a living cannot afford to run for any political office, let alone Congress. Is this what true democracy is? Only wealthy Americans can be elected to office.

The second reason is what I call the "good old boy network." If you could raise the money required and manage to get elected to office, then you would immediately have to join the network or not be able to do anything for your state or district. This means that you would have to kiss the proverbial butt of the "good old boys" to get anything done. If you did not, it would be extremely difficult to get your district anything and you would not be re-elected. Mavericks do not last in Congress.

The third reason  for lack of choices is that no one in their right mind would want the media scrutiny that goes along with the job. These people are held to a standard that not even a priest or rabbi could maintain. If the media does not dig up your history, you can be sure your opponent will. We simply need to look at recent elections to see this mud-slinging tactic.

But back to our original question: Is true democray dead in America? Yes, I think so. We just need to look at the Democratic primaries to answer that question. Mr. Kery will be the Democratic challenger in 2004 before many states even hold primaries. In Pennsylvania,the race will be decided before we even go to the polls. Also we must look back at the 2000 election. Mr.Gore won the popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, but lost the election because of our election process of the electoral college. Our democracy is not a true democracy as the Greeks envision it, "one person, one vote" or Mr. Gore would have been in the White House.

Where do we go from here? I think the answer is to make available more choices to the voters. You should not have to raise a million dollars to even think about running for Congress. We need term limits in Washington D.C. and all state legislatures. Any person should be able to run for office and all funding should be even. People in Congress have lost touch with the people they represent. Their values are different and I think that our version of democracy suffers. Let us give the goverment back to the American public, so our goverment can become a true democracy. Let us truly have a government "by the people and for the people."

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