Why is the US not a true democracy?

Answer 1

Your question cannot be answered because it contains an idealist mystification. Whether the political system in the United States constitutes a "true democracy" will vary based on how one defines the phrase. At this point in world history, every government on Earth publicly proclaims itself to be democratic ("Democratic People's Republic of Korea," anyone?), despite enormous variations in protected freedoms, social equality, etc. Various political theorists and ruling parties have defined democracy in vastly different ways, and our determination of whose definition is correct will tend to depend on our own social position. There is no objectively correct definition of a "true democracy." So is the US a true democracy? Yes, if you ask most of the people in charge. No, if you're asking me. And whether the US will ever have a set of social relations that would correspond to my definition of a "true democracy" will be the result of social contestation. At any given time, a "true democracy" is what the powerful people say it is. However, political movements are quite capable of changing the way power is distributed.

If you have ever read the Constitution, you will find that the word "democracy" never comes up anywhere in the Constitution. The Founders did this on purpose. Democracy, without safeguards, is simply majority rule, even if unconstitutional.

Answer 2

A direct democracy is one in which the citizens actively vote for every law, every change, etc. Of course, the United States is a democratic republic, meaning that it's citizens vote for representatives who in turn vote to change existing laws and create new ones. An example of a direct democracy would be hard to find, though one could argue that Switzerland is one in a way, as its citizens vote to change laws and have more power than representatives do at the canton and many times national level.

Answer 3

Because the citizens of the United States do not vote on every law, instead, we vote on some laws (town meetings, etc.) and we elect representative to vote "for us" in the state or federal legislature.

All citizens do not vote on every policy decision. Rather, it is a republic because the citizens elect representatives to make policies and to vote for them.

Answer 4

The US was founded as a democratic republic as it is much more practical than a democracy.

• In a democratic republic people vote for representatives and the representatives vote on the various decisions that the government must make.
• In a democracy people vote on the various decisions that the government must make.

A democratic republic frees the people from having to decide everything all the time, which would require practically continuous elections leaving little time for the people to deal with their daily lives.

Answer 5

The term "true democracy" is typically an allusion to the proper political-science term of "direct democracy", but is inaccurate since indirect democracies are also truly democracies. A democracy is any government either where policies are voted on by the people directly (a direct democracy) or where the policies are voted on by representatives voted into power by the people (an indirect democracy). The US is an indirect democracy since representatives vote on policy, not citizens.

Answer 6

A true democracy does not have a president or a "leader". A true democracy uses counsels and assemblies made up of many men.