The "Real Gist" of Democracy

“Democracy is a word, the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawakened. It is a great word whose history, I suppose, remains unwritten, because that history has yet to be enacted.” ~ Walt Whitman

This quotation is from Democratic Vistas, which was published in 1871. Whitman’s assertion that the history of democracy “has yet to be enacted” might be confusing to anyone who was taught in school that America sparked a rebirth of democracy in 1776 with our Declaration of Independence and subsequent victory in the American Revolution. Whitman is clearly implying that America at its founding was something less than a true democracy. His statement that “the real gist” of democracy “still sleeps, quite unawakened”, implies that that most people, at that time, did not truly understand what it means to call a government a democracy. The same could be said of many people today.

Democracy is a word that is used frequently, often used a bit too casually, and sometimes deliberately misused. Democracy has, and has always had, a great many false friends and true enemies who have actively, relentlessly, and successfully sought to prevent people from developing a shared understanding of democracy or even agree upon a clear definition of democracy.

The work of making America (or any other country) a true democracy and a Perfect Democracy begins with agreeing on a clear definition of democracy and developing a shared understanding of the elements that make a government a true democracy (as well as the additional characteristics needed to make a government a Perfect Democracy).

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Defining Democracy

George Orwell addressed the problem of defining democracy in his essay “Politics and the English Language” (1946). He made the point that "the great enemy of clear language is insincerity”, resulting from “a gap between one's real and one's declared aims”. In that context, he identified some political words that have been “abused” to the point that they have “several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another”. Regarding democracy, he said:

“In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic, we are praising it: consequently, the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it were tied down to any one meaning.”

It is true that democracy has come to mean different things to different people but attempts to define democracy are not “resisted from all sides” – only by the defenders of other kinds of regimes – the false friends and true enemies of democracy.

George Orwell (1903-1950)

For anyone who is sincere and feels no need to hide their real aims, defining “democracy” is a simple matter. The word is derived from the Greek word demokratia, which was formed from two other Greek words: demos (meaning “the people”) and kratia (which means “have power”). A democratic government, therefore, is one in which the people have power. Another Greek word – kratos, which means “to rule” – is also relevant here. In a democracy, the people rule.

In the period between the fall of Athens and the period just after the American Revolution, the word democracy fell into disuse. It reentered the political lexicon only once it had been safely merged with the concept of representation (as opposed to direct democracy).

Unitarian minister and abolitionist Theodore Parker was the first (or among the first) to reintroduce the word democracy and offer what has become the most common definition of democracy. In his sermon “The effect of slavery on the American people” (which he delivered on July 4, 1858), stated that “Democracy is direct self-government, over all the people, by all the people, for all the people.” Abraham Lincoln’s law partner, William Herndon, brought a copy of that sermon, and several other sermons by Parker, back with him when he returned to Illinois from a trip to Boston. He shared them with Lincoln, who noted that phrase in his copy of “The effect of slavery on the American people”, and later incorporated it in the Gettysburg Address, famously saying:

“We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Lincoln did not use the word democracy in his Gettysburg address. But he popularized the definition, nonetheless, which is now the most common definition of democracy. To cite one prominent example, Winston Churchill, speaking to the House of Commons, in November of 1947, reaffirmed that “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, still remains the sovereign definition of democracy.”

We can define democracy even more succinctly. Government of the people is a given. The people of every nation are governed. Government being “for the people” is rare. Most governments around the world throughout history have served the private interests of a ruling class or powerful elite rather than the common interest. If we want government of the people to be government for the people, we must have government by the people.

DEMOCRACY IS GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE.

Armed with a clear definition of democracy, we can turn our attention to developing a shared understanding of democracy.

Although John Locke used the word democracy only twice in his Second Treatise of Government (published in 1689), no one has done a better job, before or since, of describing the “real gist” of democracy. Locke’s ideas sparked -

“A Revolution in the principles and practice of Governments”

Once upon a time...

John Locke wrote a book that changed the world. Not immediately. And not as much as it could have or should have, but a book that changed the world, nonetheless. Prior to the publication of Locke’s Second Treatise of Government in 1689, political philosophers had generally considered a monarchy or an aristocracy to be the best form of government because they believed those who shared power should be wise and virtuous and they considered wisdom and virtue to be extremely rare.

Locke had a more generous view of human nature. A deeply spiritual man, he placed both individual liberty and political power within a moral framework informed by his theories regarding life in the state of Nature. He stated, as “self-evident” truths, that “all men by nature are equal”, endowed by God with natural rights to “life, health, liberty, (and) possessions”; that “the end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom”, and that “the consent of the people” is the only “lawful basis” for government.

If these ideas sound familiar, it’s because they were immortalized by Thomas Jefferson, who was clearly inspired by Locke as he wrote the Declaration of Independence, which included a concise summary of Locke’s ideas:

John Locke (1632-1704)

Those ideas were revolutionary. Demonstrably so. They provided the inspiration and the justification for the American Revolution. They have been inspiring people around the world ever since. Ratified by victory in our war for independence, they triggered what Thomas Paine called a “Revolution in the principles and practice of Governments”.

That Revolution remains incomplete. More than three centuries after Locke wrote his Second Treatise of Governmentand two and a half centuries after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the world has yet to see Locke’s vision of democracy fully realized in any nation. That does not alter the fact that Locke’s Second Treatise retains its value as a resource for developing a shared understanding of democracy. No one has done a better job, before or since, of describing the elements that make a government a true democracy or of advocating for democracy as, not only the best form of government, but the only “lawful” form of government.

The Essential Elements of a True Democracy

Majority Rule

Although Locke used the word democracy only twice in his Second Treatise, one of those times was especially significant - identifying majority rule as the essential element that puts the “form” of “a perfect democracy” in place. Locke’s support for majority rule was unequivocal. The word “majority” appears again and again throughout the book.

He asserted that “the majority (have) the whole power of the community naturally in them” because “every man, by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government, puts himself under an obligation, to everyone of that society, to submit to the determination of the majority, and to be concluded by it.”

Numerous other political philosophers have since concurred, including some of the most prominent figures among America’s Founders. Thomas Jefferson, whole-heartedly endorsed majority rule, stating that, “It is my principle that the will of the majority should always prevail.”

Locke also identified two other elements of a true democracy that flow from majority rule: an equal vote (or equal representation) for every citizen and the supremacy of the legislative power.

An Equal Vote and/or Equal Representation

It is impossible to accurately determine the will of the majority unless every citizen has an equal vote and/or equal representation. Locke stressed the importance of maintaining “a state…of equality wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another. If the people decide to delegate the power to enact laws, he emphasized that “it is the interest as well as the intention of the people to have fair and equal representation.”

The Supremacy of the Legislative Power

Locke stated that “there can be but one supreme power, which is the legislative, to which all the rest are and must be subordinate.” The supremacy of the legislative power is established and maintained by having the laws that are made by the people executed by “officers of their own appointing”.

A Perfect Democracy

Majority rule, an equal vote and/or equal representation for all, and the supremacy of the legislative power make a government a true democracy and put the form of a perfect democracy in place. Several additional elements must be in place to make a government a Perfect Democracy: Among the citizens who choose to be politically active, a majority must be well-educated, well-informed, and, most importantly, must respect the rights of others. In other words, a majority of politically active citizens must understand and agree that (as Locke put it) “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom”.

The argument could be made that for a government to be a perfect democracy, in the strictest sense of the term, all politically active citizens must be well-educated, well-informed, and respectful of the rights of others. However, just as Locke pointed out that democracies act upon “the consent of the majority” because “it is impossible” to obtain the “the consent of every individual”, we may bestow the honorific of “Perfect Democracy” on a government where most of the citizens who choose to be politically active are well-educated, well-informed, and respect the rights of others and consistently govern “with a view to the common interest”.

How Democratic is Our Government?

It is common and natural for people to exhibit a noticeable bias in favor of their own country when comparing countries in various ways. One form that bias commonly takes is believing one’s own country to be more democratic than it is. This is certainly true in America.

Most Americans believe our nation was the birthplace of democracy in the modern world, is the most democratic government in the world and the greatest democracy in the history of the world, and that most other democratic nations have modeled their constitutions on ours.

We do have a reasonably legitimate claim to being the birthplace of democracy in the modern world. The Declaration of Independence, ratified by victory in the American Revolution, did provide the spark for the ongoing “Revolution in the principles and practice of Governments” and established a government based (however loosely) on democratic ideals for the first time since the fall of Athens. The facts do not back up these other examples of American exceptionalism.

The Democracy Index

We are not the greatest democracy in the world (or in the history of the world).

The Democracy Index, which has been published annually since 2006 by the Intelligence Unit of the weekly newspaper The Economist, ranks the nations of the world in terms of the state of democracy in each country using a complex evaluation system “based on the ratings for 60 indicators, grouped into five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture”. Nations are given numerical scores on those indicators and grouped into four categories based on their average score: Full Democracies, Flawed Democracies, Hybrid Regimes, and Authoritarian Regimes.

The United States has never been ranked as the most democratic country in the world in the Democracy Index. We fell out of the full democracies category in 2016. Our lowest ranking was in 2022, when we fell four spots to number 30. In the 2023 report, we were still ranked among the “flawed democracies”, although we did move up one spot to number 29.

No Other Nations Have Modeled Their Constitution on Ours

Regarding the belief that other nations have modeled their constitutions on ours, in How Democratic is the American Constitution? (2001), Robert A. Dahl examined twenty-two “advanced democratic countries” and compared how the form of government put in place by our Constitution compared to the constitutions of the other democracies. Dahl’s answer to the question he posed in the title? Our Constitution is not very democratic. On one measure after another, we fall short of nearly all the other advanced democracies in terms of adherence to democratic ideals.

He thoroughly documented the fact that: "Among the countries most comparable to the United States and where democratic institutions have long existed without breakdown, not one has adopted our American constitutional system. It would be fair to say that without a single exception they have all rejected it."

Other nations have learned from our mistakes. It is time for us to learn from the victories for democracy that have been won in other nations and adopt some of the pro-democracy reforms that have made some nations more democratic than America. We (Americans) have long since forfeited our leading role in the ongoing Democratic Revolution, but it’s not too late for us to once again play a leading role.

It’s not too late for us to Make America a Perfect Democracy

The world has yet to see a Perfect Democracy. But more than two dozen other nations are now closer than we are to becoming perfect democracies because they have made more extensive use of referendums and have instituted systems of proportional representation for constituting representative assemblies.

Making America a Perfect Democracy

Given the grim reality of politics-as-usual in America today, the idea of making America a Perfect Democracy may strike many Americans as hopelessly idealistic. It may be idealistic, but it is not hopeless. Our nation was founded upon democratic ideals. When we unite in support of the ideals upon which our nation was founded, we will find that we (the People) have the power to address the flaws in our political system and Make America a Perfect Democracy.

Two elegantly simple, yet incredibly powerful reforms will make America a Perfect Democracy

Making a large, complex nation-state a true democracy (with the form of a Perfect Democracy) requires a seamless combination of direct democracy and representative democracy.

Perfecting Direct Democracy

In a true democracy, proposed legislation should be put on the ballot through the initiative process, for approval or rejection by voters in a referendum, anytime it appears likely that a legislature has failed to enact legislation that is supported by most of the citizens of a community, state, or nation. Veto referendums should be called anytime it appears likely that legislation that does not have the support of most of the citizens has been enacted by a legislature.

There are eighteen states where the state constitution can already be amended through the initiative process: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and South Dakota.

In those states, we can use the initiative to enact Perfect Democracy Amendments that make it easier to call referendums and use the initiative by allowing citizens to “sign” petitions electronically, by submitting Statements of Support through Online Accounts for Politically Active Citizens.

In the states that do yet have provisions for referendums and/or the initiative in their constitutions, we will need to get systems of Proxies for Citizens implemented in order to enact Perfect Democracy Amendments that will extend the use of referendums and the initiative to the federal government and to the states that do not yet provide for them.

Because of anti-democratic provisions in the U. S. Constitution, a Perfect Democracy Amendment (amending Article V) will need to be enacted before we can extend the use of proxies to the U. S. Senate.

Learn More About Perfect Democracy Amendments

Perfecting Representative Democracy

In our bitterly divided two-party system, Republicans living in a state or district with a Democratic senator or representative are not truly represented and Democrats living in a state or district with a Republican senator or representative are not truly represented. Citizens who do not identify with either major party often do not feel represented in Congress or their state legislature regardless of whether they are “represented” by a Democrat or a Republican. And even Democrats represented by Democrats and Republicans represented by Republicans, often find that their senators and representatives do not always vote the way they would vote on issues of concern to them.

Implementing systems of Proxies for Citizens will ensure that every Politically Active Citizen will be represented in Congress and their state legislature by senators and representatives who share their views and values and vote as they would vote on issues of concern to them.

The term “proxy” refers to both a form giving a designated person the authority to represent you, especially in voting, and the person to whom you give that authorization. When you assign your proxy to someone, you authorize them to vote on your behalf and they then act as your “proxy”.

Proxies are routinely used by corporations to allow shareholders who are unable to attend an annual shareholders meeting in person, to designate someone to vote on their behalf at a shareholders meeting. Both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party utilize proxies at meetings of their national and state committees. The U. S. House of Representatives used proxies among its members during the COVID pandemic.

The best way to ensure that all voters have equal representation and are represented by someone who votes as they would vote is to give every citizen the right to assign a proxy to any one member of each legislative body that governs them, and then allow each member of that legislative body to cast a number of votes equal to the number of proxies they have been assigned (plus one for themselves) on every matter that comes before them (including votes taken in committees and on procedural matters).

Implementing systems of Proxies for Citizens will bring a system of representation as close to the form of a perfect democracy as possible and ensure that votes taken in a representative assembly correlate strongly with how the people governed by a legislative body would have voted, if voting directly.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PROXIES FOR CITIZENS

Online Accounts for Politically Active Citizens

We need to take full advantage of the Internet to bring democracy into the 21st century.

Both Perfect Democracy Amendments and systems of Proxies for Citizens should incorporate provisions for citizens to sign petitions and assign and reassign proxies through Online Accounts for Politically Active Citizens.

A system allowing citizens to sign initiative petitions online has been in place in the European Union since 2011. A system allowing citizens to sign petitions candidates must circulate to get on the ballot in Arizona has been in place for over 10 years.

Minor Changes with Major Benefits

In a survey conducted in 2021, 85% of Americans surveyed agreed that we need to completely reform or make major changes to our political system. Of course, many people say they want change but get nervous and hesitant when confronted with specific proposals for changes. Perfect Democracy Amendments and Representation for All Amendments are minor changes with major benefits. They will change our system no more than necessary yet will bring our government much closer to being a Perfect Democracy.

These reforms are foundational. Enacting either one, or both, of these reforms will put the form of a perfect democracy in place and empower the people of a state (and ultimately the people of America) to enact additional reforms and pass all of the legislation needed to address a host of critical issues that have gone unaddressed for far too long due to the corruption and dysfunction that have kept our government from being a true democracy.

These reforms are transformative. Perfect Democracy Amendments shift power to the people. Implementing systems of Proxies for Citizens will shift power within Congress and state legislatures to members who represent the will of the people and transform corrupted, dysfunctional legislatures into truly democratic institutions.

All that is necessary to Make America a Perfect Democracy is for enough Politically Active Citizens to do something.

Communication is vital within a broad-based grassroots movement and to make direct democracy as effective as possible in a nation as large as the United States. To facilitate communication, we encourage you to provide your email address, join the “Government by the People” group on Facebook, and follow “Government by the People” on X.

A political action committee (Perfect Democracy) has been formed to finance and facilitate the implementation of this plan. The acronym PAC ordinarily stands for "Political Action Committee". Perfect Democracy is developing a different kind of PAC - a broad-based and inclusive movement of "Politically Active Citizens".

BE A CHAMPION OF DEMOCRACY - TAKE ACTION - JOIN THE CAMPAIGN

About This Website

This website is intended to serve as an organizational and informational hub for Politically Active Citizens who want to work together to Make America a Perfect Democracy.

This website presents a detailed plan for putting the form of a Perfect Democracy in place in every state that makes up the United States and transforming Congress and state legislatures into truly democratic institutions. The plan is complete but is open to modification based on input from the politically active citizens who choose to get involved in the movement to implement the plan and in response to events as they unfold.

Most of the information on this website is adapted from a soon-to-be published book (Government by the People: A Citizens’ Guide to Making America a Perfect Democracy by Winston Apple).

The material on this website is adapted from a soon to be published book: Government by the People: A Citizen's Guide to Making America a Perfect Democracy by Winston Apple.

Permission is granted to share with proper attribution. All Rights are Reserved.

This website is paid for by Perfect Democracy - a 501(c)4 political action committee.