Why is this group called "Democracy For America?"

Written by: Scott Trimble on Feb 1, 2007 7:09 PM EST

The name suggests that it wants to offer something new, something called "democracy," and that the recipient will be "America," but what does that mean?

It seems to me that with the exception of just a few members, what is being discussed in this blog and elsewhere in this organization is not anything new, but the same old "representative democracy" or "republic" that America has been cursed with for 218 years, discussing candidates for elected offices that are supposed to represent huge populations of people, with all their various needs, wants, and viewpoints, which of course is impossible.  So, these office holders, and those who aspire to become such, are forced to try to represent the views of the majority of their constituents, which means different people on different issues, but which means that on every issue, a certain segment of people are not being represented.  And of course, if a person holds minority opinions on most or all the issues, when compared with others in his/her precinct, city, county, district, state or nation, then that person is simply not being represented in this "representative" system, and has no recourse to getting his/her opinion heard by the decision makers.  Sure, we can write letters to our elected office holders, but if your position differs from theirs, we are just going to get a form letter explaining in no detail what the politician's stated position is, and unless a mass wave of constituents submits similar letters, it is basically moot.  Still, this is not representation, and it certainly isn't democracy.  Democracy is a participatory form of self-governance wherein each member can participate and has equal weight in making decisions.  Democracy means rule by the people, not a few who rule teh people "by consent." By the time we discount the people who don't vote, can't vote, aren't in the majority in each particular constituency, and whose representative is not in the majority in whatever assembly he/she is a member, the fact that many elected officials make decisions based more on the opinions of their largest campaign contributors rather than the opinions of their constituents, we are left with a system in which very few people are actually being represented fairly.  So, this "representative" democracy actually results in a lack of representation for most.

 So, what is this organization called "Democracy for America?" Why does it exist? What is it trying to accomplish?  I see no evidence of this organization trying to do anything in the way of democratizing America.  And if we are not going to do that, what is the point?  I know a lot of people will say, we have a good system that sometimes gets hijacked by bad people, but a good system cannot be hijacked, and obviously this one can.  Furthermore, for as long as I have been alive, and apparently from the history I have read, for most of the history of this country, people have decried how politicians are sneaky, or untrustworthy, how they make promises they won't or can't keep....history is full of examples of politicians involved in corruption of one sort or another, serving purposes of personal power, wealth, and/or the interests of the highest bidder.  The examples of peoples' issues coming to the fore and being implemented into law are few and far between, and generally require some severe injustice: slavery, child labor, sexist oppression or racism.  The examples of those who would use the system are far more numerous than the examples of the positives that have come out of it.  What needs to change is the system, not just the current set of faces.

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