Aristotle’s Administrations—Part 3

At the founding of the USA there was an additional factor that compromised the ability of the USA to be a true democracy: slavery. Of the 13 original states that ratified the proposed constitution, about half of them (in the South) based their economies on slavery. They feared that they would become dominated in a representative government by the more populace northern states, so they forced two compromises to be written into the Constitution, as a condition of their joining the union: (1) their voting power must be augmented by adding three-fifths of their enslaved people to their population, and (2) the creation of the Senate as a legislative body made up of two representatives from each state. The first compromise gave the slave states more weight in the House of Representatives, which is based on population; and the second compromise did much the same in the Senate, by giving the less-populated slave states an equal two-senator power to the more populated northern states.

So, the US form of government—from the perspective of Aristotle's six types of regimes—is neither a true democracy nor a true oligarchy. It falls somewhere in between. In fact, our tendency is actually toward a plutocracy, not an oligarchy. What is the difference? An oligarchy is the rule by a small, elite group, while a plutocracy is rule by the wealthy. It is a fine distinction, but an important one, as the real power in the US today is held by the rich… that so-called 1% that has amassed increasing power, the last few decades.

So what could be done; what changes might be required, to move the US towards a real democracy? There are several specific changes that could be implemented. Here are a few: (1) Eliminate the various forms of voter suppression that are currently being practiced by several states; such as making it difficult for non-white people to vote (there are many laws that do so), stop arbitrary purging of voter lists, eliminate gerrymandering (manipulating the boundaries of voting districts so as to favor one race/class or party), and other methods of blocking some people to vote. (2) Eliminate the electoral college, which has allowed several men to become president when in fact they lost the popular election. (3) Change the Senate election rules, so that smaller, more rural states do not possess the outsized power that they wield today. (4) Set term limits for members of Congress and the judiciary. Many of them stay in power for decades and begin to behave more like aristocrats than citizens. (5) Set campaign contribution limits. Today's laws favor the rich and those with close connections to corporate funds, which is the source of plutocrats holding power.

Any or all of these specific changes would bring about a more genuine democracy, but there are two general or systemic changes that have their origins going back to those ancient Greeks. The first—and fundamental—change would be to educate the populace. The minority of educated and well-to-do citizens from ancient Athens to the 21^st century have always been suspicious of the masses—especially those common folks who are uninformed and are rarely involved in governance. The fear is that the multitudes—if given a little power—will wreak havoc, because they simply do not understand the complexities of running a country. If they pursue their own personal interests, the “greater” interest of the nation will go unanswered.

There is some validity to this fear. What is the simplest way to allay it? Educate the citizenry! It is a simple concept, although not at all easy to implement—mostly because our education system does a poor job of edifying people. Critical and discerning thinking are of low priority. Our educational process is interested in creating obedient people, not independent thinkers.

Even more detrimental today to creating an educated populace is the spread of misinformation on social media. Worse yet is intentional disinformation aimed at the populace. A working democracy requires informed citizens—not confused and deluded people swayed by fallacious “facts.” Where false rumors once spread with impressive speed through the populace, disinformation in the internet age goes viral and proliferates literally at the speed of light.

The second general change that could strengthen democracy is to appoint representatives not by flawed and biased elections that favor the rich, but by lottery. This option would best be implemented by combining it with the previous educational option. A lottery would be truly impartial, in that every citizen would be called upon to serve. It would eliminate the grip that plutocrats currently possess, by forcing a more equitable representative body of citizens to be in control. Like the New England town meeting, a lottery process would be more complicated and time consuming than our representative election process, but would be far more impartial than today's unequal and unfair voting practices. There is one feasible example of a lottery system operating in today's society: the appointment of juries. An accused member of society can request trial by jury—a form of judgment by one's peers, chosen randomly.

I am thankful for a recent introduction to Aristotle's six varieties of regimes. It has helped me step back and see the bigger picture and then to highlight the ways in which modern regimes—especially those who claim to be democratic, especially in my own country, the USA—measure up to democracy's tenets or how they fall short.