The New Ideas Blog

Imagine for a moment a reporter interviewing a candidate for a national political office. The reporter asks this woman, “What do you think about the recent voter registration drives that have increased participation in this election?”

“I think it will make it more difficult for me, since most of those registered will probably vote for my opponent.”

“But in any case, isn’t it better for the country if more people participate?”

“Not if they vote for my opponent.”

The reporter laughs nervously, but isn’t sure if this is a joke. Candidates are not usually this blunt nor do they often contradict the cultural assumption that more people should participate regardless of how they vote. He says, “Well, it may not help your campaign, but don’t you at least think it is good for our country to have more people voting?”

“In what way?”

At this point the reporter really doesn’t know what to say. Like most people he has been conditioned to believe in the value of more voter participation, but without ever asking why it is automatically good for the country. He hesitates and then suggests, “Ah… a democracy is only strong if enough people participate.”

“And that helps a country how?”

“Um… are you saying you are against democracy?”

“No.”

“I think I’m missing something here. Can you explain what you do believe about democracy.”

“It’s a way to elect those who serve in government.”

“So it’s important.”

“Yes. It makes governments acceptable to the people. It doesn’t mean the right people will be elected or the right ideas will prevail in those governments.”

“You don’t have a very high opinion of democracy, do you?”

“It works better than other ways of determining who will serve. On the other hand it also executed Socrates for teaching young people to think and put Hitler in power, so it certainly doesn’t have a great record.”

“Okay… um… well… to get back to the original question then, you think it unfortunate that there are more people voting because they aren’t voting for you?”

“Of course. Why would I or anyone else want more people voting for candidates who will bring bad ideas and policies to the office?”

“And the good policies and ideas are…?”

“Now you’re asking the right question. Too often government is perceived as and acts as a parent of sorts, but citizens are not children. A government should be more like an umpire, enforcing the rules of the game, or a servant doing what need to be done, or a security guard that protects the lives and property of those who hire him. Above all my policies will revolve around the idea of protecting people’s rights and doing so in an efficient manner.”

“Including the right to vote?”

“Look, this focus on democracy ignores the fact that it is just a means to put people in office. It’s like making a train or plane more important than the destination. What’s important is what elected officials actually do or don’t do. This is why we have limitations on governments in the form of constitutions and related documents. The mob might otherwise vote for all sorts of nonsense.”

“So the voters are a mob?”

“Not necessarily, although they become one when we encourage more and more people to vote without regard to whether they have educated themselves on the issues. An opinion doesn’t have automatic value, and neither does a vote. Consider the generations of voters who elected a government that permitted slavery and institutionalized racism and sexism. That looks like mob rule more than wise governance to me.”

“But you want this ‘mob’ to vote for you?”

“Sure, that’s how we get into office, right?”

“Yet you seem to have no respect for the voters.”

“Certainly I respect them as human beings, but do I respect their votes? That depends. Should I respect a vote cast just because the voter liked the name or race of a candidate, or because he hates my opponent? Voting isn’t some sacred event that confers automatic nobility on a person. My dog can express his opinion about who he likes, but he doesn’t get to vote.”

I don’t know what the reporter would have to say at this point. This is as far as I imagined the conversation. Obviously I do not feel the same way as most people do about democracy. For now it is better than the alternatives, just like toilets are better than their alternatives. But neither is toilets nor democracy are sacred or irreplaceable given time and imagination.

Tags: democracy, government, mob rule

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 8:34 am and is filed under Political Ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.