Robert Alan Dahl is the Sterling Professor emeritus of political science at Yale University. He's often called the "Dean of American political scientists for his scholarship in democratic theory. In his 1956 book, A Preface to Democratic Theory, he says:
The only thing democratic about an American mass election is the honest tabulation of the ballot.
So on Election Day, keep things in mind:
- As joyful or depressed as you feel about the outcome, remember that it comes from a deeply flawed system where cash and demagoguery rule. It's less that the right persons won or lost than it's the system that lost.
- As populations get larger and larger, the ideal of democracy get more and more diluted. It may live large in your town, but it's being squeezed among the hordes.
- Although Dahl was discussing presidential elections, mass elections of all kinds meet the same disdain.
- For a future choice, make improving the system more important than supporting party or finding a model candidate. You'll rise above the miasma and just maybe you'll actually make a difference.
