Lessons from History - Democracy

"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 for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time" - Winston Churchill

I am currently reading biographies on each of the US Presidents. I'm only on Madison, but I've learned some incredible insights into the dysfunctions of our government. Since the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1777, politicians and the wealthy have been constantly undermining justice, equality, and the idea that they should prioritize the good of the nation above all else. The disgraces of current politicians are nothing new and have been part of US political culture since our country's founding. For example, the southern states refused to adopt the constitution unless it counted enslaved people at 3/5 of a person for the purposes of having more elected representatives in Congress (giving more power to voters in those states and ensuring slavery would continue). Jefferson secretly started a newspaper (edited by someone whom he got a job in the government) for the specific purpose of disparaging the Federalists, even when it included blatant lies and conspiracy theories. He did this while Secretary of State for George Washington (the newspaper often made up lies about Washington, whom Jefferson was advising on the highest level). Congressmen would hold up the country's budget until they got concessions on something completely unrelated (sound familiar). Congressmen and Senators used insider information to [blatantly] enrich themselves, often at the expense of regular citizens. For example, they ripped off veterans by buying government bonds they were paid with, at a discount because they knew that the Government had plans to pay full value in the near future (and created stock bubbles that required government bailouts). Madison helped create the first "political party," which had been looked at in disgust prior to that. From that point, political parties stopped compromising, and the majority party would just do what they wanted. The interests of rich and powerful interest groups had outweighed influence on policy, usually at the expense of regular citizens. The hypocrisy of our leaders was also on full display as Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe all spoke of the inherent injustices of Slavery, yet they continued to own slaves (Washington had very few flaws, but this was a big one). I haven't even gotten to Andrew Jackson and the atrocities committed under his leadership as a General and President.

I was also amazed to learn that our democracy was set up expressly to be somewhat dysfunctional. The Founders knew that if any given branch of government had too much power, they would corrupt the whole system. So they purposely made powers vague and intertwined so that they constantly had to battle (and compromise) with each other. Issues like federal vs state rights were left in a never-ending debate so that neither side could ever win. In some ways, the goal of our democracy was just as much about avoiding tyranny as it to be functional. The founders knew the flaws of man, knew the problems they would cause, and built a system within that reality. 

All that being said, Churchill was still correct. Democracy does have its flaws, but it is the best option out there. The United States has done some terrible things, but they have also had remarkable achievements. The very notion of a government "of the people and for the people" was born here and slowly spread to much of the world. The Constitution and Bill of Rights set a very high minimum standard for how government works. For all our country has done, we rarely have violated these sacred laws, which were an experiment when they were created. Democracy is the best option out there, but it requires constant vigilance as tyranny is always lurking in the shadows.