![PROPOSITION: DEMOCRACY IS THE WORST FORM OF GOVERNMENT EXCEPT FOR ALL THE OTHERS](https://cdn.magzter.com/1350668721/1678685632/articles/dLVz7e4wE1678704505944/PROPOSITION-DEMOCRACY-IS-THE-WORST-FORM-OF-GOVERNMENT-EXCEPT-FOR-ALL-THE-OTHERS.jpg)
THERE ARE COUNTLESS drawbacks to democratic government, but most of these are problems with the government part, not the democratic part. It is true, as the old joke goes, that unconstrained majority rule is two wolves and a sheep debating what to have for dinner. But unconstrained minority rule is just the same debate with more sheep. The lesson should be that we need constraints on any state, democratic or not.
Constitutional constraints on power are often described as countermajoritarian measures, but the best of them are counterminoritarian too. (The same First Amendment that is there to protect us if Congress passes a law criminalizing speech is also supposed to protect us if an unelected police chief starts harassing his critics.) Democratic input itself can be a constraint on power-not the most effective constraint, but one we're better off with than without. I prefer it when government does not claim powers over people's lives; but when it does claim those powers, we should at least get some say in when and how they are wielded.
One possible objection to this is that democracy doesn't really give us much power: Outside the most local level, it is virtually impossible for one voter's ballot to change an election's outcome. This is undeniably true, and I would never try to hector a citizen into the voting booth. But when a large number of citizens get upset at once, that actually can have an impact. Keeping one person from voting is not likely to have a long-term impact on public policy, but systematically barring a population from the polls-as in the Jim Crow South, to give the most obvious example-can allow all sorts of oppressions to thrive.
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Reason magazine.
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Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Reason magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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Gimme Shelter - The U.S. confronts a growing homelessness problem. Does Miami have the answer?
The U.S. confronts a growing homelessness problem. Does Miami have the answer?
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AI Is Coming for Hollywood's Jobs
But so is everyone else.
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AI Can Do Paperwork Doctors Hate
With help from AI, doctors can focus on patients.
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Antitrust May Smother the Power of AI
Left alone, AI could actually help small firms compete with tech giants.
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A Brief, Biased History of the Culture Wars
THE FIRST PAR AGR APH of the book jacket lays it out: “There is a common belief that we live in unprecedented times, that people are too sensitive today, that nobody objected to the actions of actors, comedians, and filmmakers in the past.
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FAMILIES NEED A VIBE SHIFT
THE AUTHORS OF FOUR NEW BOOKSWITH 24 KIDS BETWEEN THEM-SAY THE AMERICAN FAMILY NEEDS A COURSE CORRECTION.
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"The Past Is There To Teach Us What Can Happen'
Hardcore History's Dan Carlin on hero worship and moral assumptions in the study of the past
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Cutting Off Israel
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WHAT CAUSED THE D.C.CRIME WAVE?
GOVERNMENT MISMANAGEMENT, NOT SENTENCING REFORM OR SPARSE SOCIAL SPENDING, DESERVES THE BLAME.
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States Turn Their Backs on Criminal Justice Reform
IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE to avoid the “strange bedfellows” cliché when reading about the criminal justice reform movement in the 2010s.