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Antidemocratic America

Democracy? What a Joke

One may contend that American democracy was doomed from the very beginning. The Constitution itself excluded rights for women and African Americans (save for the mention of slavery.) The framers of the Constitution did not even intend to create a democracy, but a simple republic. "Many of them felt that the nonwealthy majority-an unruly mob-would tyrannize the wealthy minority if given political power" (Edwards 44). Interestingly enough, we now call ourselves a democratic republic, while often operating by the same concept as aforementioned. Democracy is stained by misrepresentation, undistributed voting, inconsistent policies.
While government books would probably say that Congress is the most democratic branch of government, a closer examination would indicate the Congress is not a true representation of the people. The problem has its roots in competition between supposedly equal citizens without taking into account the unequal resources that citizens possess. The elite section of the society enjoys superior wealth, education and political skill in general, that allow its members to use their privileges at the expense of the majority. If one looks as the backgrounds of these congressmen, one cannot deny that they are all far more privileged than the average American. The majority of Congressmen are middle-aged, white, Protestant, lawyers or businessmen. A quick list of the minorities in the United States being under-represented might read as follows: African-Americans, Women, Blacks, Hispanics, Gays and Lesbians, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans. Just to throw out some numbers: Hispanics account for about 4% of Congress--with no seats in the Senate–and 12.5% of the population. Blacks hold 7% of seats in Congress-- also without seats in the Senate-- and compose nearly 13% of the population. Women are by far the most under-represented group-13.6% of Congress and 51% of the population (Edwards 356) . This distribution...