America is Not a Democracy, and Other Reasons to be Thankful

The United States of America is mistakenly called a “democracy” so often that a lot of fairly intelligent people seem to have bought into this error--people who should know better, like Peggy Noonan. Ms. Noonan has written many a fine speech, but in today’s Opinion Journal column she not only seems to think that President Bush should have his head in his hands like LBJ because he’s supposed to be “suffering,” she writes the simple, declarative sentence:

But this is a democracy.

Which it isn’t--the United States is a republic. A democracy is where 500 guys get to vote that Socrates must die. A democracy is where the majority can do whatever they want, including seize your property, enslave your children and hang you from the nearest tree. The Founders of the United States understood this very well, which is precisely why we don’t have a democracy.

Americans are some of the best educated, most technologically sophisticated people ever to walk the Earth, by a long shot. Almost all know how to read; and yet, and yet...in a survey released recently enough to be relevant (2002) “60 percent believe some people possess psychic powers, 40 percent believe in astrology, and 30 percent believe in UFOs.” The idea of allowing the “average man and woman” to decide important questions by vote is enough to give me a case of the shakes and an urge to run screaming for the nearest mountain range.

There is more recent polling data in this column by Jon Sanders, along with additional data including the fact that 19 percent of Americans believe there is at least “a chance” that Elvis is still alive.

On the other hand, “Only 14 percent of Americans surveyed said they had a ‘great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in Congress.” Believing in UFOs is merely idiosyncratic; when it come to the important things perhaps Americans are smarter than I thought.

(Cross-posted at Eternity Road)