This statement has been elaborated on by many other historical figures, many of who believe that it is indeed true. While at this current time in history democracy has been successful, it is not guaranteed to stay that way forever. It is part of human nature to desire overall power and despite the elections held to elect the “rulers” of the United States, politics is a cruel world where many people will do whatever it takes to further themselves. It cannot be determined that those who are being elected into our offices will do everything that originally promise once elected. Also, there are occasions where certain groups of people may feel underrepresented by said leaders, which could create something of a domino effect. As said by Alexis de Tocqueville, “For [the people’s] happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the sole agent and the only arbiter of that happiness” democracy can give the illusion of keeping people equal, but there will always be one leader who makes all the overall decisions. Eventually only leading to that leader doing what they think is best, opening the door to a mild form of despotism that could only get worse.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
"Democracy leads to despotism"
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Even though I didn't take the same position on this topic as you did I think you have a solid argument and I like how you took what most of us take for granted into something that can easily be corrupted.
ReplyDeleteI understand that there are cases in which all people cannot be satisfied with the elected leader, but doesn't it seems a little extreme to say it leads to despotism? The definition states that despotism is the exercise of absolute power, but in a system of checks and balances, do you truly think absolute power is possible?
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