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Democracy takes many forms. The United Kingdom, South Africa, and Canada, among others, utilize a parliamentary system. The United States is based on a two party system wherein the winner takes all. Democracy in its purest form means that people govern. Today, many people are disenchanted with democracy as a theory and as a means of governing effectively. Too readily, we hear people bemoan the "facts" that: all politicians are corrupt; the system will never change; regular people have no say; the government is worthless; and so on.

The sad part of this is that people are ready to give up and throw in the towel on the noble experiment that is America. Yes, problems exist. Power placed in the hands of the government can be abused, just like power in the private sector can be abused.

The genius of the U.S. form of government is that power is divided, not only between the executive, legislative, and judicial, but between the federal government and the states. And, within the states power is divided between counties and municipal government. It appears that there are endless pathways to follow to organize and become active in government. No, everyone will not be a Senator, but each individual can write to his or her Senator and other congressional representatives, as well as attending local town council meetings.

The media feels the wrath of those that wish to denounce the democratic system of governance as being too quick to judge and unwilling to cover the story with the correct coverage. And yet, there is an endless amount of coverage if one is only willing to look a bit. From the National Review to the New Republic, views and issues are covered. As for the corruption charge, one needs look no further than disgraced representative Tom Delay to uncover whether or not bad actions are uncovered by the democratic system wherein each and every person can play a part in the national saga.

The tension between democracy or republicanism is a false dichotomy. The United States is a republic, or representative democracy, like all other democratic governments in existence today. It is foolish to discuss any sort of notion of direct democracy for the simple reason that there are over 300 million people and a two trillion dollar budget at work in the United States. The splitting up of the republic over a large area such as the United States assures the protection of minorities, at least that was Madison's theory. Ultimately, however, the people are still in control of the system.

It is easy to see the progress that can be made through democratic governance. The United States abolished slavery, albeit through a bloody war, finally eliminated Jim Crowe laws, kept monopolies from forming, protected public areas from excessive use, created the system of national parks, initiated the social security system, built the national highway system, and, ultimately, allows people the freedom to speak their minds and to "petition the government for redress of grievances." Democracy is not easy to define and it is much harder than a theocracy or a Kingdom to govern. But it keeps freedom alive and allows citizens a say in how they will be governed.

Learn more about this author, James Buthman.
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