[stuartcr]

To even compare the two, is foolish.

[Brilliant]

"democracy an imperfect system that led to mob rule..."

Now they tell us.

[Borges]

Founding fathers said much the same thing.

[2banana]

Democracy without iron-clad civil rights is mob rule...

[Wonder Warthog]

"Despite the publicity the Electoral College received in 2000, Samons says, many Americans still believe that our country is a democracy and look to Athenian democracy as something we should strive for."

Well, hell---its not as though generations of American children haven't been force-fed the idea "democracy good--Constitutional Republic bad" by the self-appointed intelligentsia, who actually HATE the American form of government.

[Destro]

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine."

Thomas Jefferson quotes (US 3rd US President (1801-09). Author of the Declaration of Independence. 1762-1826)

[Red Badger]

Democracy is a sheep and three wolves voting on what to have for dinner........

[Republicanprofessor]

read later

[Dr. Frank fan]

Bottom line: In modern American parlance we use the word "democracy" as a shorthand for "democratic constitutional republic". We don't actually mean pure democracy and never did. And I think we all instinctively understand this even if not explicitly. So what?

It creates a problem I suppose when we try to "democratize" other countries, and certain folks in those countries think that by "democratize" we mean "purely-democratize", and call us hypocritical if we insist on bills of rights, constitutional separation of powers, etc.

But again, all we need to is reiterate that by "democracy", Americans don't mean pure democracy and never did.

[You Dirty Rats]

Democracy: power of the people. It’s the ideal form of government, isn’t it? Loren J. Samons says no — not the way it was practiced by Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.

Aristotle said the same thing over 2300 years ago. The least they could have done is mentioned him in this piece.

[harrowup]

But the Electoral College is still in place, and that’s the way the creators of the American regime intended it. They didn’t trust the masses.

One can hardly expect a BU academic would ever understand Greece or democracy. Athens was ruled by elitists just as our electoral system was intended to impose...and does by giving representation to 100 Senators, some of whom represent 300,000 folks and others many millions. Joe Biden is somewhere in the middle and that qualifies him as representing the mob...and all four Senators from NY-nj of course are members bought and paid for by the mob.

[ClearCase_guy]

“Many Americans tend to think that there is a political solution to every social problem,” he says.

It's an important point. The welfare state (a political "solution") resulted in vastly increased poverty and single-parent families. Want to solve the social problem? Remove the political "solution" and you are well on the way to success. Politics can't fix everything.

[buwaya]

Big news. Aristotle and Plato said as much 2400 years ago.

[RightWhale]

This idea is not particularly new. Plato studied philosophy to discover what was going wrong with Athenian democracy.

[FreedomFarmer]

"You must remember, Octavius, I only control the Senate. The Mob controls your life."

[Semper Paratus]

Hard to talk about democracy in Athens where their economy was tied to slavery.

[Digger]

Not-so-fast! The FF expected the pols to follow the Constitution, provide for our security, etc. When 85% plus want the borders secured what type of representation is this?

[monday]

"He also wants readers to realize that we shouldn’t rely on our political system to improve society. “Many Americans tend to think that there is a political solution to every social problem,” he says. “This reflects a misplaced faith in the political process"

This is the biggest problem in not only the US but the world. Everyone is convinced that using the power of government to get their way is the only way to solve problems, when in practice, that approach ALWAYS causes more problems then it solves.

[monday]

"The government which governs least, governs best." - Thomas Jefferson

[american spirit]

It's all about rights.....do we ever want a "mobocracy" where someone's rights are dictated by a majority or a republic as in our case where our rights are unalienable and cannot be violated by unscrupulous bureaucrats, etc. In a democracy rights are turned into privileges (for a fee).....that's why so many of our gov't entities are now corporations (operating in commerce)......a democracy is a corporate form of governance.