Is our society better off because of democracy, or does it succeed in spite of it? Fundamentally, the United States’ system is structured as a representative democracy, otherwise known as a Republic. Constituents are promised, we the people elect candidates to represent us in political systems like Congress. The representatives in Congress do not have lifetime terms and are supposedly held to account when up for reelection. Congress’ job is to make the laws and so if we the people don’t like the laws, at election time, they are replaced via popular vote.
The theoretical beauty of this system is that the people’s voice governs the people. There are no kings who place themselves at the top of the hierarchy so they can benefit over the masses. Of course this is in theory.
But what does democracy even mean? No one, at least no one taken seriously, believes every person should get a vote. If you’re building a society like ours from scratch, the question becomes, who are the people eligible to vote? The answers are as numerous as they are diverse. But something each answer has in common is the exclusion of different groups. Generally in the U.S., only adult citizens can vote. This advantages whoever is an adult, and disadvantages whoever is not. The U.S. happened to settle on the age of 18 as the age of majority. There was no science behind picking that specific age, it was completely made up and arbitrary. Numerous countries have different adult voting ages, and some of them segregate beyond age and segregate by gender.
Now, on a theory level, what’s the point of democracy? There’s no right answer, but it’s likely for one of the following three reasons. The first reason is the benefit of being self-governed, as mentioned above you don’t have some king lording over you. If you don’t like how things are going, you don’t need the kings permission to change it, you just change it. That’s a pretty good reason. The second reason is the diversity of opinions and backgrounds filling the conversation. The U.S. is the most diverse country in the world, and with this diversity of people comes diversity of perspective. This ties in the third major reason, with democracy you can leverage the brain power of the whole country. With a king you have one guy and you’re relying on him to be smart enough to figure out the world. In a democracy, with every law passed and with every leader elected you have the knowledge and experience of a nation behind them.
Does the demarcation of those age 18 and up comprise of the most qualified people to vote for representatives? I think most everyone would say, likely not. Does the average 18-year-old, freshly an adult, have the knowledge or experience to know a) what is best for the country, b) who is the best person for the job, and c) what’s even best for themselves? Again, probably not. That certainly doesn’t mean there aren’t serious, educated, and bright 18-year-olds. But, at least in my experience, if you ask anyone to think back to themselves at 18, they describe themselves as essentially a kid trying to just get their feet under them.
I’ll leave you with this: government is a complicated system, one in which you can gain expertise in running. For example, in the United States, there is a constitution that lays out the structure of the government. It is simple and brief on the surface but has incredible depth and nuance when you look under the hood. Think of it like a huge ship. Obviously, you put it in water, it floats, and you ride it where you want. But I’m no captain, I could never navigate a huge ship. Furthermore, my opinion on captaining would be counter-productive because of my ignorance on the matter. The navigation and piloting of the ship would best be left to people who are experts. When you’re caught in a storm, do you want to hold a vote of every passenger to determine how to get through it? What about the bad actors leading the charge with sophistic rhetoric with the intent to lead the passengers astray? What about the possibility of the ignorant leading the ignorant? The question you should ask is, does democracy lead to the best people being in place to make the best decisions for those being governed?
AgoraLogica 