The US is not a democracy. The founding fathers considered and rejected a democracy, because democracy allows for "the tyranny of the majority". The idea behind the US was that everyone should be equal under the law, and that the majority should not be able to change that. Thus a Constitution of protections that are difficult to change and protect minorities.
I personally prefer this system to a democracy. Yes, those protections can be whittled away, and the founding fathers were worried about that. But if you can keep a system of protections in place that allow for reasonable levels of freedom and fairness, then I think it's a better system than just the majority getting whatever it wants.
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chiming
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Date: January 10th, 2007 10:15 pm (UTC)From:I personally prefer this system to a democracy. Yes, those protections can be whittled away, and the founding fathers were worried about that. But if you can keep a system of protections in place that allow for reasonable levels of freedom and fairness, then I think it's a better system than just the majority getting whatever it wants.