The problem with Representative Democracy

   

      Representative Democracy,  involves  the election of certain citizens into governing responsibilities on local and national levels.  Such voters, of course have personal interest and so they vote into office persons who promise to help them with those interests.  These individuals might have farming concerns, law enforcement concerns, educational concerns involving the welfare of their children, immigration concerns, employment concerns, environmental concerns related to pollution, global warming concerns etc.  Candidates who promise to address such issues will gained their votes. 

     Now, at face-value, there seems to be nothing wrong with this system, However, on closer inspection, we discover a very serious flaw. The flaw is that the quality of the elected representative depends on voters, and if voters have foolish priorities, such as the legalization of illegal drugs, or the government harassment of certain minorities,  then they will vote for any bozo who promises to deliver on those demands. Examples of such persons are dictators such as Mussolini,  Hitler, and Stalin  and today the president of Russia Putin, who rose to power by appealing to the base instincts of the populace, will rise to power because enough people wholeheartedly agreed with their dictatorial ideas. 

     Such electors will not attempt to remove him from office even if their murders innocent children and bombs civilians as long as he assures them that it is al being done in order to keep te promises he had made to them  They will  support and approve because they are in full agreement with their reps policies. In short, such mentally unbalanced persons rise to power in a representative democracy because their supports are as mentally warped as they are. If enough people are as loony as he is, they will remain in power as long as the majority share that lunacy. Hitler remained in power for a full twelve years and even at his final days in that underground bunker there were still lunatics supporting him.

     Another flaw in the Representative democracy is that it does not require any kind of governing specific expertise or training.  Persons who had been actors , like Ronald Reagan, TV Show Hosts, like  Ronald Trump,    Peanut  farmers, such as  Jimmy Carter,  bartenders, like Abraham Lincoln, all have the same chance to run for office as the most educated citizen.  All they need are the funds to do so and those funds are very often provided by companies such as the oil industry whose profitable future depends on presidential support to keep it in business.

     In short, if there are enough people who believe that a candidate has have what it takes, then that person might very well be our next president.  This can lead to very serious mistakes in international diplomacy where the slightest verbal mistake can set off a regional tensions that might escalate into a WWIII.  Yet this doesn't affect the voters in the least. As long as they rep promises to do as they wish.

     These are the reasons why Plato wrote about his ideal republic where the only ones who would rule would be those specifically trained for the job.  And in which their decisions base on that training would determine government policies. Whether or not the majority of morons or fanatics of certain inane causes would approve or disapprove, would be totally irrelevant. The welfare of the state would be what mattered, and would take precedence over every other citizen concern.


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